Truth Seeker
by atmawpn
Summary: Before the rise of the Beast, there was a cutting edge Somtaaw science frigate. Before the gruesome end, there was an intrepid crew that trekked far into the unknown. This is their story.
1. Prologue: Politics

**TRUTH SEEKER**

**PROLOGUE: POLITICS

* * *

**

The bar was housed in tiny building just outside the bustling spaceport of Assaam Kiith'sid – two storeys high, and rather run down. The place was barely six years old, but its cracked and dull exterior gave the impression that the building had undergone years of wear and tear in Kharakian sandstorms. But this place was not Kharak.

This was Hiigara, the beautiful rich planet from which the Kushan had been exiled. For four thousand years it had stayed in the firm grasp of the Taiidan Empire, until the Mothership had made its epic voyage across the Galaxy, carrying its colonists to this ancient home.

If only the Emperor's death had been all that was needed to make things better. Months of planet wide war had shattered much of Hiigara's original infrastructure, leaving the new owners to slug it out in rebuilding their homes.

It had been a good seven years since the Landfall, and things were starting to get better. While thousands of people remain engaged in construction and food rationing was still common, the tumultuous past was finally coming to an end.

The bar had quenched the thirst of many a Somtaaw engineer, coming in exhausted after a hard day's work. Their Kiith had been miners for time immemorial, be it in the sandy wastelands of Kharak, or onboard the resource collectors that had fed the Mothership Fleet for six long months.

With the evening light fading away and Hiigara's star dipping into the horizon, Somtaaw workers began streaming in. It looked just like any other day, except that the mood was one of excitement and anticipation. Engineers, miners, and the occasional scientist gathered around the small viewscreen fitted snugly just behind the counter. There was only flickering static as the barkeep tried to get the old contraption up and running. For a moment, the static gave way to reveal moving images. The viewers were about to cheer when the screen flickered and reverted to its incomprehensible display. An audible groan echoed through the bar.

"You really need to get a new viewscreen," commented a burly engineer seated right at the counter, "No point keeping one that doesn't work."

"Yeah, it's irritating to have the thing give out when there's a good show on," agreed another, "If you can't spare the cash we can lend you some."

"Just be patient guys," the barkeep muttered as he twiddled a few loose knobs and pressed a few dusty buttons. The screen wavered, but still showed no sign of working. Another wave of complaints swept through the gathered crowd.

"Here, let me help," offered a lean miner who leapt over the counter. The barkeep pressed another button and stared at the screen before sighing in resignation.

"All yours," the barkeep replied as he walked off to get a few drinks. The miner did the same – twisting the knobs and pushing every button there was. When the screen stubbornly ignored his efforts, the Hiigaran swore and gave the machine a hard kick. Dust flew off as the interference started to clear, the fuzzy lines focusing into crystal clear images. Applause sounded as the miner shrugged and went to find a seat.

Then silence covered the bar as the viewscreen's speakers finally kicked in. It was a live broadcast of the New Daiamid, which was meeting to discuss what was probably the most controversial political furore there ever was in Kushan history.

"… The Somtaaw have been known for their mining expertise since the old days of Kharak. In fact, it would be for the greater good of all Hiigara if we could tap this treasure trove of skills for colonies through the buffer zone…"

"You mean 'Naabal-owned' colonies," interrupted Khontala, the Somtaaw Kiith'sa, "You see, this is just another of Talas' schemes to dominate Hiigara – bear in mind that it's only been a few months since he was charged with trying to buy over Hraal industries by force…"

"What's done is done, Khontala, and while I regret my actions I cannot do anything to rectify my past deeds," Talas Naabal replied, glaring at the Somtaaw, "But your stubbornness will do unparalleled harm to the Hiigaran economy – no other Kiith has had the experience which your workers possess."

"I have no wish to send Somtaaw workers to their deaths, just like what your predecessor did back on Kharak," Khontala stated flatly, "Heaven knows how many died under those horrific living conditions…"

"Khontala, you're going off-point," the LiirHra elder reminded, "Please stick to the matter at hand."

"I'm going off-point?" Khontala repeated incredulously, "What happened years ago is happening again – Naabal is trying to absorb Somtaaw as a vassal clan, and in doing so deprive us of our rights…"

"I beg your pardon Khontala, but it is rather pragmatic for you to come under Naabal," Talas commented smugly, "Your numbers are few – having only fifteen thousand…"

"Twenty-five thousand," corrected Khontala, "Many have joined us ever since you made clear your motives."

"Twenty-five thousand it will be then," Talas muttered, "That is barely enough for you to undertake projects as massive as shipbuilding. In fact, if you indeed join Naabal, I will personally see to it that…"

"Lies!" Khontala yelled, "The other Kiith which you absorbed under your banner are now nothing but second-class Kiithid that serve at your beck and call. What rights have they to speak of?"

"The rights you speak of have already been given as stated in the terms and conditions agreed upon," Talas replied calmly, "I estimate that at least two-thirds of the people we absorbed now serve onboard Naabal vessels…"

"Yes they do, they serve as cooks, basic technicians, _cleaners_," Khontala scoffed, "It is indeed an interesting definition of 'service' that you go by. Why, I suppose you'll have our women to 'serve' you next!"

Khontala's words echoed through the Assembly, which was now silent with shock. Moments later, the hall broke out in chaos – dozens of Naabal elders got up and hurled profanities at the Somtaaw Kiith'sa, while other Naabal supporters had to be held back by Daiamid security personnel. The Somtaaw returned the insults, flinging shoes and chairs at the Naabal side. A riot would surely have broken out had the Soban Kiith'sa not fired his weapon at the ceiling, the gunshot ringing through the place and bringing order back once more. Clearly disgusted, Karan Sjet stood up to address the Assembly.

"As elders and leaders of the people, your actions were utterly disgraceful!" Karan shouted, refusing to mince her words, "Why, your behaviour make you all no better than the beasts of the Great Desert!"

Karan continued to glare at the humbled Assembly, her gaze boring down into all before her. It was a good half minute before Karan finally took a deep breath and composed herself.

"Let us return to Khontala Somtaaw's proposal regarding the Mothership Station," Karan began, "Khontala suggested his people be permitted to build a tonnage of starships that is proportional to their numbers…"

"I object," Talas stood up in defiance, "To hand the Mothership Station over to these… superstitious scoundrels is utter madness. Who knows what savageries the Somtaaw would commit with this privilege? For all you know, they could steal the Mothership and use it for their own ends, imposing their religious madness on all Hiigara…"

"Talas, that is nonsense," interjected Fraal Soban, the leader of the Soban Kiith, "If the Somtaaw really wanted religious war they'd have started it back at the Landfall, not wait seven years!"

"That's where you're wrong, Fraal," disagreed the LiirHra Kiith'sa, "The Somtaaw were probably biding their time, waiting for an opportunity such as this. I'm sure Khontala's fully aware of this – how else can his clan hope to survive if he does not take up Talas' offer?"

Khontala and the rest of his retinue – small in comparison with the other major Kiith, glared angrily at the smug LiirHra. If it were not for Karan's watchful gaze, they'd probably have leapt up and castrated the bootlicking fool there and then.

Karan saw the Paktu delegation, who were on the side of the Somtaaw, fidgeting restlessly with their daggers. She decided to heed the warning signs and take pre-emptive action.

"Very well then, since it seems we will not be able to come to an agreement, I will declare a vote," Karan announced, "Kindly key YEA or NAY into the voting consoles now."

With that, the hall was filled with clicking sounds as the various Kiith made their decisions. For the Naabal and the LiirHra, there was no hesitation – the computers registered a near immediate and simultaneous NAY. For the neutral Kiith like the Manaan and the Sjet, there were localised discussions taking place as the representatives considered their choices. Five minutes later, Karan declared the vote closed.

"The computers are now processing the votes," Karan spoke, "For this proposal to pass, the Somtaaw will require a simple majority."

Talas smiled smugly at the worried Khontala. Given the power of his Kiith in the Daiamid, the Somtaaw wouldn't even get a substantial _minority_.

A minute later, the computation was complete. Karan studied the results, raising her eyes in mock surprise. She shot a quick glance at the Naabal Kiith'sa, who could not fathom the look on her face.

"The computation of votes has been completed," Karan announced. The rest of the Assembly waited anxiously for the results, while Khontala Somtaaw stared at his console, his fingers crossed in worry. Hopefully, his little trump card would work…

"… There are fifty-three votes against, and fifty-seven votes for the proposal," Karan declared, "The Somtaaw proposal is passed via simple majority."

Khontala Somtaaw nearly leaped from his chair in delight, the rest of the Somtaaw elders and representatives congratulating him on their success. Talas Naabal stood like a statue, all the haughtiness wiped from his face. He collapsed into his chair, dazed, while an advisor came up to him and whispered a few words into his ear. Talas' eyes widened and he sprang up once again.

"Khontala Somtaaw! I never thought that you'd stoop so low!" Talas yelled indignantly, "To think you actually threatened a _strike_ over this issue! No wonder the neutral Kiith sided with you!"

"Talas, threats of strike pale in comparison with your hostile actions in dominating the Hiigaran economy," Khontala replied calmly, "I don't see why I can't do a bit of politicking myself when you're out there blatantly abusing your power."

"Khontala! You…" Talas uttered, completely incensed by the Somtaaw's words. Years of planning had gone down the drain just like that – now the Somtaaw could take to the stars and make their living in space, with no need to depend on a larger Kiith absorbing them, which was his original intent.

"Enough of this," Karan ordered, "Since the Somtaaw have won this vote, I hereby grant the complete use of the Mothership Station and its facilities to the Somtaaw for a period of forty-five days."

Karan turned to face Khontala, who was ecstatic beyond imagination.

"The Mothership's all yours, Khontala," Karan smiled, "Make good use of it."

"I will, Karan," Khontala responded in gratitude, "I thank you for your support in this matter."

"Oh, it was no problem at all!" Karan laughed, "Just keep our little secret safe."

"Of course, of course," Khontala chuckled as he thought back to the trump card that he had used to such success. Trust Karan to suggest strike threats!

* * *

The viewscreen in the pub flickered and died, but there were no groans of annoyance – only silence. No one knew how to respond to this sudden breakthrough.

It was then that an engineer sprang from his seat, running towards the doors.

"What are you people still waiting for," he exclaimed, "Forty-five days, remember?"

And then the engineers were all swarming out of the pub, running towards the spaceport for the next shuttle flight to the Mothership Station.


	2. Reaching for the Stars

**TRUTH SEEKER**

**CHAPTER 1: REACHING FOR THE STARS

* * *

**

"Good job with that resourcer design," Khontala praised a weary engineer, "I understand it's been a few crazy weeks."

"It was all for our Kiith, so it's nothing really," the engineer replied in a tired voice. He and a team of Somtaaw engineers had been tasked with developing a new resource collector design, and they had worked without rest for days on end.

"What do you suppose would be a good name to call it?" Khontala asked, looking at the sleek rounded vessel being displayed on the viewscreen. The next generation resource collector was now speeding through space as it moved through its harvest trials.

"Well, we did leave lots of room for improvements to the design in the future," the engineer noted, gesturing to the various unused portions of the chassis, "So I was thinking along the lines of 'Worker'…"

"Worker… talk about unglam," Khontala commented, a smile forming on his face, "But we're miners, I think it'd be fine. Now you'd better go get some rest."

The engineer saluted his Kiith'sa, then walked off in search of the nearest bunk.

Khontala walked on to check the progress of the last ship. _Faal Corum_ and _Kuun Lan_ had already been launched with great fanfare, silencing the critics who believed that Kiith Somtaaw would just screw up this opportunity of theirs. He could still remember the dazed look on Talas' face when he had seen the massive _Faal Corum_ leave dock after a mere twenty days.

Today was the last day of their control over the Mothership Station, and Khontala hoped that their last ship would be finished in time. The third ship was a mere frigate, but it was the instruments it contained that were making the job so difficult.

"Pyra!" Khontala called out to the Chief Engineer, "How's things?"

"No worries Kiith'sa," Pyra called back, "We'll get it done, just a bit more fine-tuning needed."

"Remember that we've only got a few more hours," Khontala reminded as he went to meet the would-be captain of the new ship. He was standing beside the new Somtaaw frigate, gazing at it in awe. As the Somtaaw Kiith'sa approached, he turned to greet him warmly.

"Sir Khontala, it's an honour to meet you in person," gushed the smartly attired Somtaaw. Farin was lightly built but well-muscled from his days in the Hiigaran Navy. He was one of the few Somtaaw who had been given the rare opportunity to fight on a Sjet carrier fleet. In the past eight years of his military career, Farin had made tremendous contributions as the quick-witted second officer of a Revelation class destroyer. Now that middle age was upon him, he had chosen to return to his Kiith and take up a non-combat role.

"I still can't understand why you chose to command a science vessel of all ships," Khontala commented, "Given your achievements, you're more than qualified to command an Explorer."

"I've been fighting all my life, through the Homeworld War and for the past eight years," Farin explained, "I think I could use a break from all that warfare."

"But the Explorer class is not a warship," Khontala argued, "Granted, the engineers gave them point defences that would shame this Mothership, but they're ultimately meant for mining missions, not assaults."

"Sir, that you have decided for the _Kuun Lan_ and _Faal Corum_ to undertake deep space mining missions is a sure guarantee of hostile encounters. From my experience with the Sjet fleet, it's hard to jump anywhere without getting into a fight with Imperialists or the Turanic Raiders."

"That is more reason for you to command one of the Explorers," Khontala insisted, "I'd feel much safer if someone as accomplished as you were in command."

"With all due respect, sir, I've really had enough of fighting," Farin replied, "I'm quite sure there's many more eligible candidates out there. Besides, you know I've always been a science person."

"Yes, I know," Khontala noted, "I remember back on Kharak you were one of the top students from the Sjet Science Institute. That was probably the reason why the Sjet let you serve onboard their fleet after the War."

"If that's the case, then will you let me have the honour of commandeering this vessel?"

Khontala shrugged and wore a defeated look on his face. To Farin's gratitude, the Kiith'sa nodded slightly in agreement. The officer wasted no time saluting his Kiith'sa for the opportunity.

"Just one more thing," Khontala turned to face the science frigate before them, "Since you're now the captain of this ship, I suppose you'll need to name it."

"_Clee San_," Farin responded almost immediately, "I think that suits this ship best."

"_Clee San_, after the Temple of Truth on the Shimmering Path?" Khontala cocked one eye before smiling in agreement, "You certainly know your Somtaaw history. _Clee San_ it'll be then."

It was then that Khontala caught a glimpse of trouble – Talas Naabal had shoved aside one of his engineers and was striding into the construction bay with a considerable number of Naabal soldiers. The soldiers quickly positioned themselves throughout the place, their weapons cocked and at the ready. Khontala quickly signalled for Farin to stand back as the Naabal Kiith'sa strode up to him.

"Talas Naabal, what is the meaning of this?" Khontala demanded, "You've brought enough soldiers to fight a war."

"Relax, Khontala," Talas replied snidely, "I'm just here to make sure you vacate the Mothership Station promptly when your time is up. The soldiers are just a formality."

"You have my word that we'll leave when the time comes," Khontala affirmed, "Now if you will take those soldiers to someplace else…"

"I like the soldiers where they are, Khontala," Talas stated firmly, "Now if I'm not mistaken, you've only got thirty minutes…"

"Talas, we aren't due to leave until three hours later," Khontala corrected, "Now if you will excuse me…"

"If you will excuse me, _my _chronopiece says that you Somtaaw have got thirty minutes left, so you'd better make it snappy."

Khontala was speechless and glared angrily at the Naabal Kiith'sa. Talas merely shrugged and proceeded to ignore him completely. The rest of the Somtaaw engineers knew what they had to do.

"You heard the Naabal, so hurry up guys!" Pyra yelled as his fellow engineers scrambled around the _Clee San_ to complete the last adjustments. He would have loved to give Talas a good sock in the groin, but there were too many soldiers around.

Khontala hurried away with Farin to meet the rest of the _Clee San_'s crew – a science ship would be quite useless if it didn't have any researchers onboard. Both Hiigarans soon arrived at the guest room, where the Somtaaw scientists were waiting. As the doors opened, the academics quickly stood up to greet the Kiith'sa.

"Dispense with the formalities," Khontala said, "Now I'm here to introduce Farin Somtaaw, captain of the science vessel _Clee San_."

"Pleased to meet you all," Farin greeted as he held out a hand. A bespectacled lady stood up and grasped it firmly. She was of slender build with long flowing black hair.

"I'm Cara Somtaaw, Chief Science Officer," Cara said as she shook Farin's hand warmly, "I have with me here researchers Rea, Aaraan, Ishbar and Darum."

The other men bowed slightly to greet their new captain, who returned the gesture with a salute.

"I suppose there'll be time for detailed introductions later," Khontala spoke, "By the way, Chief Engineer Pyra will be joining you shortly. He's been assigned to the _Clee San_ as your ship's engineer. Now if you will excuse me…"

As Khontala hurried off to see to other matters, Farin gestured towards the _Clee San_ outside.

"We should be getting onboard now…" Farin said as he watched the scene of hectic chaos around the ship.

* * *

Talas Naabal watched smugly as the Somtaaw engineers rushed to complete the final adjustments to the _Clee San_'s hyperspace module. The Somtaaw had only twenty minutes before he would lead them off the Mothership Station by force. Every now and then, the Somtaaw Kiith'sa would, while on his rounds, turn to glare coldly at him.

"This is the consequence for not joining Naabal," Talas muttered, "I'll make sure I give you Somtaaw hell in these last few minutes."

Talas walked up to a squad of Naabal soldiers. After whispering something into the squad captain's ear, the soldier nodded and barked orders at twelve of his men, who promptly rushed off to do their duty.

Talas couldn't help but smile.

* * *

**Onboard the _Clee San_, docked with the Mothership Station:**

"I was having doubts as to how a crew of seven was going to man a frigate," Cara commented, "But from the looks of it now, seven may seem excessive."

"Gosh, take a look at these control panels," Rea uttered as he studied it with considerable excitement, "I didn't expect _Clee San _to be so user-friendly."

"By Kharak, get a load of the sensors lab!" Darum yelled from another section of the frigate, "This ship's got more eyes than a sensors array!"

"What did you expect, they don't call this a science vessel for nothing," Aaraan sighed when he saw his colleagues behaving like excited children with new toys, "What's there to be surprised about?"

Ishbar shrugged and walked off to take a look around, while Farin chuckled slightly at the varied reactions of the researchers. He led Cara to the bridge and took his seat at the command chair.

"I heard you've fought for eight years, soldier," Cara spoke as she took a seat at the sensors console.

"Eight years and then some," Farin corrected, "I was in charge of a Firelance class during the Homeworld War too."

"Why the sudden change then," Cara asked as she powered up the console to run sensor diagnostics, "You're more than qualified to lead an Explorer fleet."

"Let's just say the sights are better here on this ship," Farin grinned at the elegant scientist.

Cara paused, unsure of what to make of Farin's words, before rolling her eyes and sighing, "Men…"

It was then that the command console came to life. Farin pressed a few buttons and quickly established communications with Mothership Control.

"Farin Somtaaw reporting in, I'm receiving you loud and clear."

"Looks like communications are working just fine," came the voice of Pyra, "I'm just about done with the final adjustments, so I'll be coming down to join you."

"I'll await your arrival then," Farin responded as he ran a full systems diagnostic on the ship, "How much longer before we launch?"

"Ten minutes till we have to vacate the premises, so we're running on a really tight schedule," Pyra replied in a hurry, "So just get prepped for we'll be initiating launch sequence anytime, Pyra out."

Farin closed the channel and was pleased to see the diagnostics report a clean bill of health.

"Everyone, launch is in ten minutes, so get back to the bridge on the double!" Farin announced through the intercom.

* * *

**Onboard the Mothership Station:**

"Sorry sir, but our orders are not to let anyone through," the Naabal squad captain spoke firmly.

"Well, there's no way for us to launch the _Clee San_ unless we can get to the control room!" Khontala barked, "So just scram and let us through!"

"I'm afraid I can't do that," the captain replied.

Khontala swore and looked back at the engineers behind him. They were all seething and rolling up their sleeves. Khontala shook his head in disapproval.

"They're better armed than we are, so don't even think about it," Khontala uttered angrily. It was then that he saw Talas Naabal walking arrogantly towards them. Khontala marched up to the Naabal Kiith'sa in a rage.

"Talas, why did you block off the launch control room?" Khontala demanded, fury coursing through his words, "You know we can't launch unless we have access to it!"

"All I can say now, Khontala, is that any ship that stays in dock beyond your window of control automatically becomes Naabal property," Talas replied coolly, "And that's in about a minute's time…"

"Scoundrel!" Khontala yelled, "Wait till Karan Sjet hears about this…"

"And what can she do? Her exact words were that you Somtaaw would only be granted forty-five days, and nothing more. After that, it just so happens that it's my Kiith's turn to use the Mothership Station. You know what the rules have to say about this."

Khontala tightened his fist in anger. He wanted very badly to wipe the smirk off Talas' face with a well-aimed upper cut. He looked back at the blocked off control room, then back at his chronometer. Khontala figured he had nothing to lose now…

"Your minute's up, now the ship is…" Talas never had the chance to finish his sentence, for he was falling from the force of Khontala's punch. As the Naabal Kiith'sa hit the floor, the soldiers rushed forward to restrain the Somtaaw Kiith'sa. At the same time, Somtaaw engineers charged with their tools to protect their Kiith'sa.

"Release the tractor beams!" Khontala yelled as the Naabal soldiers struggled to restrain him and fight off the engineer mob at the same time. A miner heard the cry and took the chance to slip into the launch control room amidst the chaos. He scanned the control panel and quickly powered down the tractor beams.

"_Clee San_, you're free to go!" the miner yelled as more soldiers swarmed in to restrain him and reactivate the tractor beams. But it was too late – the tractor beams shot into thin air as the _Clee San_ soared out of the Mothership launch bay.

* * *

**Onboard the _Clee San_:**

"We've cleared the Mothership Station," Farin reported triumphantly, "All systems operating at 100 efficiency."

"Not so fast, captain," Cara interjected as red blips started showing up on her sensors screen, "Localised inhibitor field is enveloping us, and the Naabal carrier fleet is coming in hot!"

"Martyrs of Kharak," Farin uttered as the viewscreen showed the Naabal forces advancing on their position. It was a full carrier fleet armed with an Avatar class heavy cruiser.

"We're a science vessel, there's no way for us to fight them off!" Rea yelled indignantly as he watched the Naabal fleet come closer and closer.

"Damn it, we've got to stop now," Farin cursed as he powered down the _Clee San_'s main drives. As the science ship came to a halt, Farin waited for the inevitable boarding…

"Wait, we're in luck!" Cara cried, "_Kuun Lan_ and _Faal Corum _are coming in!"

Sure enough, the massive Explorer class command ships quickly manoeuvred themselves between the Naabal fleet and the tiny frigate-class vessel. The command ships fired off a few rounds from their rail guns as a warning, and the Naabal fleet came to a halt.

"This is _Kuun Lan_ Fleet Command, we'll ram this mining vessel down the throat of the first Naabal ship that approaches!" the Explorer's commander yelled.

"That will not be necessary, Somtaaw fleet," Karan's voice echoed as the Sjet carrier fleet moved into the would-be battlefield, "Naabal forces, in the name of Hiigara, stand down at once. Somtaaw, you're free to go."

Farin let loose a victory cry while Pyra and the other researchers heaved a collective sigh of relief.

Their journey of discovery had begun.


	3. Pirates

**TRUTH SEEKER**

**CHAPTER 2: PIRATES

* * *

**

"Welcome onboard the _Faal Corum_," the commander spoke as he shook Farin's hand, "I'm Hraal."

"Pleased to meet you," Farin responded, "Explorers certainly are smaller than they look."

Commander Hraal looked around the Hangar Module, half of which was crammed full of production lines and various design labs. Much of the remaining space was used for fighter and frigate docking holds, with the result that one could only walk on narrow platform corridors.

"All I can say is that Explorers aren't luxury vessels," Hraal shrugged, "Now I must return to the bridge to oversee the hyperdrive test."

The commander walked off towards the bridge, leaving Farin to gawk at all the machinery around him.

"Cramped place, isn't it?" Cara commented as she walked up to Farin, "It's amazing how they managed to squeeze just about every production device into one module."

"That's not all, Explorers even have auxiliary production and docking facilities," Pyra added as he climbed through the _Clee San_'s airlock, "You ought to be thankful we docked in the hangar module, heaven knows what it's like in auxiliary dock."

"I can imagine," Farin muttered as he wondered how all the machines could work without crashing into one another, "Amazing that the design was finalised within days."

"When the need arises, anything is possible," Pyra replied, "Aaraan and the rest will stay onboard to recalibrate the sensor arrays for deep space scanning."

"Then let's head somewhere for the hyperdrive test," Farin suggested as he walked to the turbolift.

* * *

**Onboard the Mothership Station:**

"Sir, all sensors have targeted the _Kuun Lan_ and _Faal Corum_," reported a Somtaaw engineer, "_Faal Corum _reports that _Clee San_ has docked and is secure. We're ready for the hyperdrive test."

"Excellent," Khontala replied, turning to Karan Sjet beside him, "Karan, allow me to thank you on behalf of all Somtaaw."

"Please, there's no need to, you were originally intended to maintain control for at least another two hours," Karan reminded, glaring at the meek and bruised Naabal Kiith'sa behind, "This is perfectly legal and within Daiamid regulations."

"I was referring to your generous offer of a carrier fleet at the end of the jump," Khontala explained, "To have a carrier fleet monitor the Explorers' quantum waveform upon exit is certainly far beyond our expectations."

"It's the least I can do as compensation for what you and your Kiith have had to go through. In fact, I am considering bringing up this matter before the Daiamid. I'm sure they'd be all too willing to grant an extended use of the Mothership Station…"

"No, you've done enough," Khontala said, "As it is, you already did us a big favour by giving us manufacturing rights to the Heavy Neutrino scanning array for such a low cost."

"Alright, that's enough gratitude," Karan laughed, "Let's get back to your hyperdrive tests, shall we?"

"Of course," Khontala replied as he opened communications with the _Kuun Lan_ and _Faal Corum_, "Attention _Kuun Lan_ and _Faal Corum_, you are clear for hyperdrive test, you may engage when ready."

* * *

**Onboard the _Faal Corum_:**

"All hands stand by for hyperdrive test," the announcement blared over the intercoms, "Destination: outskirts of the Coruc-Tel System."

Farin felt the floor shudder slightly as the quantum waveform warped the command ship into hyperspace. The vibrations dissipated after a few seconds, indicating that they had entered hyperspace without incident.

"I've heard that the Explorer class is using the fastest hyperdrive developed by Kiith Sjet," Farin said as he sat down in the viewing gallery, watching the streaks of hyperspace on the viewscreens around him.

"To be exact, _Faal Corum_ goes all the way to 175 000 times the speed of light," Pyra confirmed, "Up to a maximum duration of eight hours. It's at least eight percent faster than the previous model. The only Hiigaran ship that's faster is the _Kuun Lan_, which can hit 177 000 c."

"That's certainly top of the line," Cara commented, "But I think we're already outdated. Last I heard, the Naabal are set to build a carrier that can maintain 178 000 c for ten hours."

"No wonder they were so anxious to chase us out of the Mothership…" Farin mumbled, "But I've some doubts about Khontala's whole space mining idea. We're sending Explorers out beyond Hiigaran space and all we've got for defence are Blade Mk. 5s? Back on that Sjet fleet, even Mk. 7 was easily matched by those new Raider interceptors…"

"You forgot the Seeker class," Cara reminded, "I was overseeing the flight trials, and they pack quite a punch."

"But armour-wise, it won't stand up for long," Farin muttered, "Pity we can't afford the Blade upgrade programme."

"Quit complaining already, we're a mining Kiith, there's no need for so much firepower," Cara replied, "Anyway, our objectives are to jump to the Eos asteroid field once we've tested the _Clee San_'s hyperdrive."

"Eos?" Farin questioned, "The asteroid density there is too great for any sort of mining activity. Besides, we're a science vessel…"

"Well, Kiith'sa's orders are for us to do a deep scan of the region," Cara continued, "Apparently there've been multiple reports of anomalous ghost signals in the area, but standard sensors can't scan that far…"

The floor shook violently as the alarms went off, the wails echoing through the corridors.

"Emergency alert, the hyperdrive is malfunctioning, stand by for immediate return to normal space!"

Another shudder gripped the _Faal Corum_ as the inertia dampers were overwhelmed. Farin could hear the Explorer's superstructure shriek as it was stressed to its limits. Thankfully, the massive vessel held together as it made the transit to realspace.

"The hell is wrong with this hyperdrive," Farin muttered, "Talk about top of the line…"

"I don't think it's the hyperdrive, Farin," Cara mentioned as she pointed to the viewscreen, "_Kuun Lan_'s dropped out along with us."

Before Farin could say a word, the _Faal Corum_ shook as impacts rained across its hull. Klaxons began wailing again as the ship went to red alert for the first time.

"Scramble alert! All pilots to their ships now!" Hraal's voice boomed through the ship, "We are under attack by Imperialist and Raider strike forces!"

Farin wasted no time getting to a viewscreen to see what was going on. It turned out that the Imperialists had deployed gravwell generators in the area to drag both _Kuun Lan_ and _Faal Corum_ out of hyperspace. Now they were completely surrounded by a full Turanic Raider carrier fleet accompanied by several Taiidan assault frigates.

"Hostile forces _this_ deep in Hiigaran space?" Farin exclaimed incredulously, "We're barely a light year from Hiigara!"

"Obviously the martial Kiith have been slacking off," Cara sighed, "I hope help arrives soon, this attack fleet looks substantial."

Farin watched the interceptors launch from both _Faal Corum_ and _Kuun Lan_. They were accompanied by a few of the new Seeker class Recons and charged to engage the enemy fleet. Thankfully, the gravwell generators had overloaded from the strain and powered down. That meant they could jump out anytime they wanted to, that is if the hyperdrives had not sustained damage from the interruption.

When the Somtaaw fighters came within range of the Raider interceptors, the technological gap became all too apparent. The Blades were easily outmanoeuvred by the Imperialist-enhanced Raider interceptors, which had no trouble tracking the outdated Blades with their new targeting systems. Bullets fired away in many directions, forcing the Blades to go evasive. The only thing keeping the Somtaaw strike craft alive was the fact that the Somtaaw pilots were experienced veterans from the Homeworld War.

Thankfully, the Seekers were more than capable of slipping around the Raiders' firing arcs. The slower interceptors stood no chance against the highly agile Recons, which were having an easy time dispatching the enemy fighters. However, since the Recons were few in number compared with the Raider interceptors, they would be inevitably overwhelmed once the missile corvettes came within range.

_Faal Corum_ shook as the assault frigates opened up their mass driver turrets, sending slugs of depleted uranium slamming into the command ship's hull. Vibrations went through the superstructure as the Explorer's heavy rail guns came online, returning the hurt inflicted by the frigates.

Then Farin saw the Somtaaw fighters pulling back from the main battle. His worst fears were confirmed – Raider missile corvettes had entered the fight, their tracking missiles proving too much for the outdated Blades and even the new Seekers. As the Somtaaw strike craft were forced to retreat, the Lord class attack carrier approached with its escort fleet of ion array frigates.

"That's it, we're heading back to the _Clee San_," Farin announced as he ran to the doors, "There's got to be something we can do to help!"

"Captain, I hope you haven't forgotten that _Clee San_'s completely unarmed?" Pyra asked as he and Cara followed their captain, "We'd just be sitting ducks out there!"

"Don't worry, I think I've got an idea," Farin reassured, a smile forming on his face.

* * *

**Onboard Turanic Raider Carrier _Rogue_:**

"Since when did the Hiigarans build more motherships?" the captain asked, "I've never seen such ship designs before."

"Whatever they are, they're putting up a good fight against the assault frigs," informed one of the pirates, "Sensors are picking up heavy rail guns on those ships."

"Quite a change in design philosophy," noted the captain, "I'd love to get my hands on one of those ships."

"Should we send in the Thieves?"

"At once, make sure cloak is on," advised the captain, "What's the status of our main weapons?"

"Ion cannons fully charged and ready," came a reply from the other side of the bridge, "Frig captains standing by as well."

"Let's give these Hiigarans some pain… fire all weapons!"

* * *

**Onboard the _Clee San_, docked with the _Faal Corum_:**

Farin was climbing through the airlock when another quake cost him his balance. He took a heavy tumble to the floor and swore loudly. Aaraan came running towards him.

"Captain, you alright?"

"Nothing serious," Farin muttered as he got to his feet, "Aaraan, have you familiarised yourself with the sensor arrays?"

"Sort of, we were recalibrating the scanners while you were away," Aaraan replied, "Rea and Darum are still working on it, and Ishbar's reprogramming the algorithms."

"Sorry to trouble you, but can you recalibrate the sensors to transmit instead?" Farin asked.

"I think we can, but why…"

"Just do it, I've got something I want to try out," Farin replied.

"We'll get on it then," Aaraan said as he ran off to inform the rest.

Farin turned around to see Cara and Pyra climbing in, the airlock closing behind them.

"What's the plan, Farin?" Cara asked.

"Cara, I need you to come with me to the bridge," Farin ordered, "Pyra…"

"I know my duties, I'll do my best to keep this ship together," Pyra replied as he made his way to the drive section. Farin gestured to Cara and the both of them were running for the bridge.

A minute later, Farin jumped into the command chair while Cara took up her seat at her console.

"Pyra, I need you to divert all non-essential power to main drives and the sensors," Farin spoke into the intercom, "Can you do that?"

"No problem, but for no longer than five minutes," the engineer warned, "_Clee San_'s circuits aren't designed for military-style power rerouting."

"Just do what you can," Farin ordered, "Aaraan, how's it going with the sensor array?"

"We're just about done, the array should be able to transmit now," came the reply.

Farin nodded and disabled the tractor beams remotely. As expected, Commander Hraal opened communications immediately.

"Captain Farin! Surely you're not thinking of going out there right now!"

"I'll keep this ship in one piece, just keep your mind on the battle," Farin replied calmly as he manoeuvred the _Clee San_ out of dock.

"No way! If Khontala hears about this…"

"We'll be fine," Farin snapped as he shut the channel unceremoniously. Cara chuckled.

"You're really going to piss the Kiith'sa off. _Clee San_'s a pretty expensive ship you know."

"We won't get a scratch if everything goes according to plan," Farin reassured, "Now Cara, I need you to lock onto the Raider communications frequencies. Try to recreate an…"

"… An opposing signal?" Cara finished, "You intend to scramble their communications long enough for us to reorganise and retaliate?"

"It would give us a fighting chance," Farin grinned as the _Clee San_ approached the Hangar Module exit, "You ready then?"

Cara wasn't listening, for she was already tapping furiously away at her console. Farin took a deep breath and swung the _Clee San_ into outer space.

Alarms began sounding almost immediately as enemy fire flashed all around them. Farin yanked at the controls, sending the frigate into a dive and away from the _Faal Corum_'s broadside where enemy fire was most intense.

"I've got a lock, recreating signal now…"

The _Clee San_ shook as a Raider interceptor strafed them. Farin swore and wished there was something for him to shoot with. To his relief, a flight of recons glided in and dispatched the interceptor.

"Signal recreated, beaming now!" Cara yelled as she banged her console hard. There was a high pitched electrical whine as the sensors array powered up for the first time, spewing its signal in all directions.

Sure enough, the Raider interceptors suddenly broke formation and flew in random directions. The Raider pilots had probably panicked from the unexpected loss of communications and ship position updates that allowed their fighters to maintain position at high speeds. The sudden chaos gave the Somtaaw fighters a chance to strike back, the recons and even the outdated Blades dashing around to dispatch the lone fighters.

"Energy spike detected!" Cara reported, "Look out!"

Farin barely had time to fling the _Clee San_ to one side just as an aqua ion beam sizzled past them. Apparently, the Raider ion array frigates had noticed them and were proceeding to attack the unarmed ship.

"Pyra, you finished the hyperdrive recalibrations back at the Mothership I hope?" Farin asked as he keyed in a set of coordinates.

"It's mostly finished I guess. Why do you ask?" the clueless engineer enquired.

"Looks like we'll be testing the hyperdrives a little earlier!" Farin cried as he initiated the jump sequence. The _Clee San_ shook like a leaf in a tornado as the imperfectly-adjusted hyperspace module pulled them into hyperspace, dropping them back to normal space behind the _Kuun Lan_.

"Farin Somtaaw!" exclaimed the alarmed and shocked engineer, "You've just violated the number one safety protocol in spaceflight!"

"Whatever…" Farin said as he swerved the _Clee San_ towards the _Kuun Lan_'s Hangar Module dock.

"Hyperspace signatures detected," Cara reported as her console displayed the new information, "You're not going to believe this – the Naabal fleet's coming to our rescue."

"Come again?" the captain's jaw nearly dropped open when he saw the Naabal carrier fleet emerge from hyperspace before them.

"Then again, it seems like a compulsory thing," Cara finished as the sensors registered the Sjet fleet exiting hyperspace as well, "Anyway, you know you're going to be in deep trouble for what you just did?"

"Don't worry, Kiith'sa's probably back at the Mothership Station," Farin coolly replied as he pressed the flashing communications button before him.

"FARIN SOMTAAW!" Khontala's voice blasted through the small bridge with all the force of a dozen ion cannons, "WHAT IS THE _CLEE SAN_ DOING OUT THERE?"

"Oh crap…" Farin whispered meekly as Cara struggled to contain her laughter.


	4. Trekking Beyond

**TRUTH SEEKER**

**CHAPTER 3: TREKKING BEYOND

* * *

**

Cara Somtaaw watched as the nervous captain trudged towards the airlock. She knew of Khontala's temper, having heard of what he had done to the Naabal Kiith'sa back at the Mothership Station. What Farin was about to face now was probably the mortal equivalent of Qwaar Jet's wrath.

"Don't worry cap," Pyra reassured as he placed a hand on Farin's shoulder, "I'm sure they'll acknowledge what you did to help."

"Yeah right," Farin muttered, rolling his eyes at his engineer's optimistic view, "Right now I'm not even sure I'll come back in one piece."

"Just relax, getting all freaked out now isn't going to help."

"Like calmness will," Farin responded as he thought back to what had happened earlier.

Karan and Khontala were onboard the Sjet heavy cruiser when _Clee San_ was spotted doing acrobatics in the middle of an intense battle. After the initial outburst, he had heard Karan's shocked gasp followed by the strangled cry of a Sjet bridge officer. The next minute, the heavy cruiser brought all its weapons to bear on the Raider frigates, decimating them all in an astonishingly short time.

Throughout that enraged space slaughter, the communications channel had remained open, revealing the chaos taking place on the cruiser bridge. He heard Karan crying for Khontala to calm down, along with the yells of security personnel who were presumably trying to restrain the incensed Somtaaw. Then the channel had been closed and it seemed that the Sjet had regained control of the cruiser, for the ship had held back to let the Naabal fleet mop up.

He was grateful that it was an audio-only feed, but still…

Farin pushed a few buttons and stood back as the computer registered his commands. With a hiss of pressurised gas, the mechanical padlocks came undone and the doors slid open. Light from the _Kuun Lan_'s hangar module poured into the _Clee San_'s dim interior.

"Best of luck, brave captain," Cara chuckled as she waved the miserable soldier off. Farin had barely taken a step outside when bullets pinged off the _Clee San_'s hull. He was barely able to leap back in as the ammunition ricocheted about.

"FARIN SOMTAAW! GET YOUR DAMNED ASS OUT HERE!" Khontala yelled as he fired off another round of bullets. Then the Kiith'sa roared as Somtaaw and Sjet security officers caught up and held him back.

"Khontala! Please calm down!" Karan beseeched loudly as she rushed up beside him, "I'm quite sure that Farin had his reasons for doing so…"

"REASONS? THE HELL! HE JUST EXPOSED AN UNARMED, STATE OF THE ART _SCIENCE VESSEL_ TO UNNECESSARY DANGER!"

The Somtaaw leader wriggled free from the officers' grasp momentarily and let loose another salvo, the clang of bullets against metallic hull making Farin grimace in fear. He howled again as the officers grabbed him and strengthened their grip.

"Looks like you may be losing more than your post, Captain," Cara spoke unhelpfully.

"Enough already!" Farin exclaimed as he turned around to glare at the science officer. Cara shrugged and disappeared into the _Clee San_'s interior. Farin cursed under his breath then cowered again as more bullets rang against the frigate's hull.

"FARIN SOMTAAW!" Khontala bellowed once more, his words sending shivers down the spine of those who heard it.

Karan knew that someone was going to get badly screwed if no remedial action was taken. She strode up towards the _Clee San_ and peered into the airlock. Farin saw her and scrambled to his feet in smart salute of the Sjet Kiith'sa.

"Dispense with the formalities," Karan spoke hurriedly, "Since it seems that you've already tested this ship's hyperdrive with success, you had better go on your way."

"But Kiith'sa," Farin protested, "Khontala will kill me if…"

"He'll surely kill you if you stay any longer," Karan replied, trying her best not to be distracted by the hollering Kiith'sa behind her, "You people have got a mission, so I guess now would be the right time to begin."

"But what about Khontala?"

"I'll handle him," Karan assured, glancing back occasionally to make sure Khontala did not break free, "Now, you had better go off and let him cool down first."

With that, Karan hit a button by the airlock's side and jumped back. The airlock closed with a dull thud, drowning out the noises that continued outside. Farin stared blankly at the shut airlock.

"Captain, we'd better get going," Pyra advised, "I've already recalibrated the hyperdrives."

It was quite a while longer before Farin could recover sufficiently to agree.

* * *

As the _Clee San_ made a hasty escape from the _Kuun Lan_, Khontala was angry beyond measure.

"KARAN SJET! WHY DID YOU LET THEM ESCAPE!" Khontala shouted at the petite lady before him, who maintained an air of calmness in the face of his anger.

"Escape? I hardly think so Khontala," Karan replied calmly, "Your ship's crew have merely gone off to begin their mission, on your own orders."

Khontala glared at Karan, then turned to stare helplessly as the _Clee San_ soared farther into space. Realising that there was no way to catch Farin Somtaaw, the Kiith'sa sighed and gave up struggling.

"That's it, calm down," Karan spoke gently as she moved to placate Khontala's anger, "All that matters now is that _Clee San_ is safe and sound. You must acknowledge that Farin's risky manoeuvre allowed your strike craft forces a chance to retaliate."

"I acknowledge that alright," Khontala muttered gruffly, "But what I can't stand is that you actually interfered in Somtaaw matters! Disciplinary action had to be taken to prevent repeats from happening!"

"I'm not of your clan, but I'm quite sure that disciplinary action with guns is not part of your rules," Karan replied, "You could have killed Farin in that mad rage you were in just now."

"THAT IDIOT DESERVES IT FOR THE UNNECESSARY DANGER HE PUT THE SHIP THROUGH!" Khontala bellowed again, causing the officers to tighten their grip on him once more.

"Khontala, if you are unable to think rationally, then I'm afraid I must take action," Karan announced apologetically as she signalled to the Sjet medics behind him. Within moments, the medics rushed up and administered their hypodermic syringes. Before Khontala could react, the drugs took effect and he slumped to the floor.

"At least that's over now," Karan sighed in relief, "Get Khontala to the infirmary right away. Hopefully this little slumber will calm his nerves."

* * *

**Onboard the _Clee San_:**

"What's the maximum speed and range of our hyperspace module?" Farin asked as he keyed in the coordinates for their first mission.

150 000 times the speed of light for a maximum duration of six hours, Pyra replied via the intercom, The hyperdrive systems look fine, so I guess we're clear.

"Eos is 89 light years from our current position, so it'll take about five hours for us to get there," Farin muttered as he did the math, "Alright then. Cara, make preparations for hyperspace jump."

"Long range sensors powered up," Cara replied as she keyed in a few commands, "Safety interrupt standing by."

Farin glanced around the bridge to check on Rea, Aaraan, Darum and Ishbar. The scientists secured themselves in their seats and nodded at their captain.

"Here we go then," Farin announced as he placed his hand on the console, "Hyperspace initiated!"

The _Clee San_ shuddered as the quantum wavefront opened up and swept through it, devouring it and removing the frigate from normal space. The vibrations dissipated after a few seconds, indicating that the hyperspace module had been properly adjusted.

Farin removed his seatbelt, as did the rest of the crew. He stretched and gave a loud yawn of relief.

"I wonder what would have happened if Karan had not saved your ass back there," Cara said as she got up from her seat.

"That was really scary," Rea admitted as he got up along with Darum, "I've never seen Kiith'sa so angry before in my entire life."

"You sure Rea?" Ishbar asked as he tapped away at his console, "Or have you and Darum forgotten what happened back at the Mining Centre?"

"Don't remind us Ish," Darum groaned as he recalled the dreadful incident. Rea and him were inspecting mined ore in the Somtaaw processing plant on Hiigara when a blackout occurred. Rea went off to get a flashlight while he had decided to go and reset the power himself. A big mistake, for he lost his orientation and fiddled with the wrong panel.

"Yep, Khontala was furious back then," Rea said as he remembered the Kiith'sa raging over the ore, which had been accidentally dumped into the river beside the plant, "We were both assigned to waste management duty for a month afterwards for screwing up."

"At least you're just dealing with mining waste, not a Kiith'sa firing bullets in your general direction," Farin replied.

"Correction, the 'waste' involved was… well… waste," Aaraan muttered for lack of a polite word. Farin's eyes widened.

"By Sajuuk, you were sent to the…" Farin exclaimed as the realisation dawned on him.

"It was not nice. I reeked for weeks after the assignment ended!" Darum complained, "I had this ten metre buffer zone around me wherever I walked…"

"That's enough people," Cara interrupted, "Isn't it time for you all to get back to the lab? There's still lots of work to do."

With that, Cara shooed the complaining researchers off the bridge, waving goodbye to Farin as the doors closed behind her. Farin sighed and sat back down at his command station. He stared blankly at the blue streaks of hyperspace around the ship.

"Guess I'll take a break…" Farin muttered as he made himself comfortable and dozed off.

* * *

Farin was staring through the _Clee San_'s main viewscreen at the massive object looming ahead. Cara was beside him, her eyes red and watery. He didn't know why Cara was so upset.

"Proceeding to access and download the data recorders," Farin spoke into the communications channel as he twiddled the controls and brought the _Clee San_ forward. The ship ahead of them came closer and closer, but the viewscreen didn't seem to be working properly – it remained blurred and out of focus.

"Damn it," Cara whispered angrily as she studied the sensor readings at her station, "Please let them still be alive…"

Farin didn't know how to respond and focused completely on the task at hand. A green light lit up on his console, indicating they were within downloading range. He brought the ship to a full stop and nodded at Cara, who proceeded to download the necessary information.

Suddenly, the bridge was bathed in angry crimson light as the klaxons went off, wailing for all they were worth.

"Captain, we've got an energy spike!" Cara cried as a bright red beam headed straight for them in the viewscreen. The beam touched them and the _Clee San_ recoiled from the impact, the ship spinning wildly in space.

Farin vaguely saw himself struggling with non-responsive controls as system after system shut down. He turned to Cara for advice, only to see her tattered face smiling evilly at him, her skin and flesh intertwined with some crimson material.

Before he could react, her half-torn hand shot towards his neck and grasped it tightly. Farin screamed helplessly as he felt something burrow deep into his trachea, his vision fading rapidly away into blackness…

* * *

Farin gasped and awoke from the nightmare. He was panting heavily and his uniform was soaked through with cold sweat. He glanced at the computer, whose display dutifully informed him that there were still two more hours to go.

The captain closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths, repeatedly telling himself "It's only a dream, it's only a dream…"


	5. First Mission

**TRUTH SEEKER**

**CHAPTER 4: FIRST MISSION

* * *

**

**Onboard the Sjet heavy cruiser _Wisdom_, high orbit over Hiigara:**

"Bring us in to dock with the Mothership Station," Karan ordered, "Once we're docked, I want Khontala to get on the first shuttle to Hiigara."

"Affirmative, Fleet Command," responded the helm officer as he manoeuvred the capital ship towards the massive Mothership ahead.

"How many times must I tell you to stop addressing me that way?" Karan muttered as she rolled her eyes, "I'm no longer the 'Core' of the Hiigaran Navy, and I hope it stays that way, period."

"Fine then," grinned the officer, "It's just that old habits are hard to break."

"I believe eight years is more than enough time to do so," Karan sighed as she gazed at the massive Mothership. To other Hiigarans, it was the remarkable colony ship that had faithfully carried them over 35 000 light years of uncharted space. To Karan, it was a metallic prison that held her captive for six months. Granted, the sensation of being Unbound was unique and amazing in its own way. It allowed her to feel the very ship itself, access entire treasure troves of data, as well as hear the singing of hyperspace in her ears.

But she still preferred the life of a normal Hiigaran. Even now, she still couldn't believe how the excellent medics had managed to reverse the supposed permanent procedure of Mothership insertion. How wonderful it had felt to finally regain her freedom and set foot on the Homeworld...

At that moment, the bridge doors slid open and the _Wisdom'_s chief medic walked in. He greeted Karan with a slight bow.

"How's Khontala?" Karan asked, worried about the Somtaaw Kiith'sa.

"He won't come to for the next three hours," replied the medic, "But there's a complication."

"Pray tell me about it," Karan gestured to a seat beside her own station.

"Thank you Kiith'sa, but I prefer to stand," the medic spoke with a tinge of worry in his voice, "While Sir Khontala was unconscious, I took the liberty of giving him a full physical."

"And?"

"Standard tests revealed nothing wrong with him. However, the new Neural Analysis Scanner did pick up a small tumour in his brain."

"A tumour!" Karan stood up in alarm, "And you said standard tests revealed nothing?"

"The growth is very small, about the size of a pinhead," the medic explained, "If the people at the Science Institute hadn't introduced the new scanner a month ago, I'd have missed it too."

"This is certainly a grave matter," Karan uttered as she quickly considered the consequences, "Does this tumour have anything to do with Khontala's temper?"

"It certainly does – it's situated smack in the middle of his hypothalamus," the medic replied, "The odds of having a tumour in that particular neural location is quite rare though. There've only been a few hundred cases in the past back on Kharak, and usually it was fatal."

"Fatal?"

"That was because scanning equipment back then was incapable of detecting the growths until they were too big," the medic explained, "But since the NAS managed to pick it up at that size, I'm pretty confident of curing him."

"That's a relief," Karan murmured gratefully, "I'll definitely put in a good word for the NAS inventors at the Science Prize Committee. In the meantime, please do your best for the Somtaaw Kiith'sa."

"I certainly will, Lady Sjet."

* * *

**Onboard the _Clee San_, hyperspace transit:**

"How much longer before we exit hyperspace?" Farin asked as he checked some readings on his console.

"About a minute or so," Cara replied after a quick check of the sensors, "Scanners indicate we're largely on course."

"That's a relief to hear," Farin responded as he switched on the ship intercom, "Pyra, how's things going down there?"

"Energy cells are nearly drained, but there's enough juice to get us there," came the reply.

"I thought you said this ship could sustain it for six hours?"

"Only when the hyperdrive's been properly calibrated," Pyra explained, "After this jump I'll have just about enough data for a proper calibration."

"That's good to hear," Farin replied as his console began beeping steadily, "All hands, stand by for hyperspace exit at Eos!"

The _Clee San_ shuddered as the quantum wavefront swept through it and returned the ship to realspace. The wavefront closed behind them, and the vibrations vanished along with it.

"Confirming location..." Cara muttered as she booted up the NAV system, "Current position and pre-jump coordinates are slightly off by four kilometres."

"Did you get that, Pyra?" Farin spoke into the intercom again.

"I've got Cara's data, will start the recalibration now," Pyra replied as he closed the intercom.

"Hopefully future jumps will be less inaccurate," Farin commented as he sat back in his seat, "I guess we can all take a short break while Pyra reconfigures the hyperspace module. Once that's done, we'll make a jump further into the asteroid field."

"Further in?" Rea gulped, "I thought the place was off-limits?"

"Quit being a wimp," Darum chided, "It's not like we're going to battle or something. It's only an asteroid field..."

"Actually, Rea has a point," Farin countered, "Remember the Diamond Shoals?"

"Oh man, that place was just wonderful," Darum muttered, "Don't tell me..."

"Eos can have up to twice that asteroid density at its worst," Farin explained, "Under such circumstances, I'dratherfight off a heavy cruiser."

"Then why the hell are we going in?" Rea asked nervously, "We don't even have anything to shoot those rocks with!"

"That's because there's a signal anomaly in there that needs confirmation," Cara responded as she swivelled around in her chair, "It's our duty as a science ship to confirm these phenomena."

"Besides, there's no need to be unduly worried," Farin reassured, "_Clee San'_s sensor arrays can scan from a much farther distance than standard scanners, so we don't really need to get that close."

"Whatever you say, just keep any viewscreen out of my sight when we go in..." Rea muttered as he left the bridge. Farin turned to Darum with a puzzled look on his face.

"You can't blame him captain," Darum shrugged, "Do you remember what exactly happened back at the Diamond Shoals?"

"I remember every detail," Farin responded, "We were shooting rocks like crazy, and they just kept coming. Unfortunately we weren't able to save one of the hubs..."

Darum shook his head gravely at Farin, whose face turned forlorn as he listened to the story...

* * *

The research station was quivering as the main drives pushed it through space. Warning lights kept flashing as large chunks of rock darted by the station. In spite of the danger, the researchers maintained their cool and continued with their work, putting their faith in their defenders.

Rea himself was in Hub Five, where he was refining the ion cannon technology handed down to them by the Bentusi. The ion cannon was undoubtedly the most powerful weapon in their possession, but its complexity and size meant that it required an entire frigate chassis to carry it. Unless there were some way of shrinking the cannon's mechanics, mounting ion cannons on turrets would remain an impossible dream.

A loud clang reverberated through the station's hull as a small rock crumbled against the ship. Rea tried to keep his mind on the task at hand, but the flashing warning lights and viewscreens continued to remind him of the peril they were in.

"Hey Rea!" sounded the cheerful voice of one of his fellow researchers. Aiir was a Paktu scientist who had graduated in the same year as Rea from the Kharak Space Sciences Institute. The vivacious scientist was the optimistic guy in their ranks, never failing to lift the spirits of the dreary researchers.

"Hi Aiir," Rea greeted as he turned away from his station, "What's up?"

"I'm taking a break from my work for now," came the reply as Aiir looked at one of the viewscreens. His eyes widened at the sight of asteroids flashing and drifting past the research station.

"I sure hope the Mothership's insured," Aiir laughed, "There's enough rocks out there to gut the fleet."

"That's why they despatched the strike teams," Rea added as he gestured to an interceptor squadron soaring through space. The fighters took aim and fired off a salvo of mass drivers, shattering a corvette-sized rock that was heading for a resource controller.

"By the way, you've got to hear this new scoop I've got," Aiir spoke excitedly, "It's something to do with Talas Naabal and Fleet Command."

"The Naabal and Sjet Kiith'sas?" Rea responded, "What about them?"

"I heard he recently made his move on Karan. He sort of went into her command room and made a proposal."

"Proposal?" Rea replied sceptically, "Or was it an excuse to lay claim to Sjet's research expertise?"

"Not that it really matters," Aiir chuckled, "Talas tried using some deep throaty voice to seduce her."

Rea stared with eyes wide open when he heard the words 'deep throaty voice.'

"Talas must have been really desperate, he was using words I never thought I'd hear from him," Aiir continued as he struggled not to laugh, "Like how he'd like the honour of 'plugging in.'"

"Koshiir Ra protect us," Rea uttered as he stared upwards at the heavens for guidance, "Talas actually said that!"

"Now here comes the fun part – Karan was broadcasting his words throughout the Mothership!" Aiir bellowed as laughter finally got the better of him, "Fleet Intel was so shocked they sent in a security team..."

It was then that it happened. Rea heard a dull explosion in another part of the ship. The next moment, the entire research station was gripped by a mighty shudder. The lights flickered as the superstructure creaked and groaned loudly.

"Emergency alert, Hub Five has been hit, all personnel evacuate Hub Five immediately," came the captain's announcement, "I repeat, all personnel evacuate Hub Five immediately."

"Damn it, our luck just ran out," Rea cursed, "We'd better get going."

Aiir nodded and followed as Rea ran for the Hub links. The lights were failing slowly but steadily, causing the corridors to dim and darken. Other researchers were doing the same, rushing out of their labs and heading for the other connecting Hubs. Then a large explosion ripped through the corridor, spewing flames everywhere. Rea screamed as the flames licked at him and fell forward in agony.

The next moment, the flames vanished as a loud sucking noise blasted through the corridor. Rea turned around and saw a gaping hole where the corridor and Aiir used to be, the emergency airlocks closing shut and sealing him off from the vacuum of space...

* * *

"I was watching the whole catastrophe from Hub Four," Darum murmured sadly, "After the initial impact, the interceptors tried to destroy another big rock but ended up splitting it into multiple pieces – all of which ended up hitting Hubs Five and Six. Hub Six escaped with minor hull damage, but Hub Five..."

Farin shook his head solemnly as he recalled the dreadful accident, Darum's words causing the memory to flare up in full detail before his eyes.

"Pyra reporting in," the intercom buzzed as it put a merciful end to the story, "Hyperdrives are reconfigured and fully charged."

"Roger that Pyra," Farin replied as he turned back to face his console and the viewscreen, "Hyperspace coordinates locked in."

The _Clee San_ vibrated slightly as it vanished into hyperspace, reappearing in normal space seconds later.

"Sensors indicate micro jump is exactly on target," Cara reported as she checked her station, "Picking up slow moving asteroids in the vicinity, relaying them to your terminal now captain."

"Thanks Cara," Farin responded as the asteroids showed up on his navigational screen as a multitude of red dots. He grasped the flight controls and coaxed the frigate's drives to life.

"I'm taking us in. Cara, stand by to scan the signal echoes once they turn up," Farin spoke as the _Clee San_ began moving forward. Cara nodded and started up the long range sensors array.

The science frigate flew cautiously at half speed, swerving around the massive cruiser-sized rocks as they spiralled slowly through space. Farin steered the ship with tremendous concentration, banking away from the larger chunks while taking care not to send them crashing into the smaller and less noticeable asteroids.

As Farin flew the ship deeper into the asteroid field, the asteroids began appearing in increasing densities and larger swarms. Even with his excellent piloting skills, it would only be a matter of time before they hit something.

"Cara, have you got anything yet?" Farin asked distractedly as he plunged the ship into a dive to avoid a destroyer-sized rock that was careening towards them.

"I've picked up a few faint communications echoes," Cara reported, "But I'll need to get closer for confirmation."

"I'll do what I can," Farin muttered as Cara transmitted a set of coordinates to his computer. He contemplated the destination for a moment before sighing and resuming his flying.

"Captain, your flying's pretty good," Aaraan commented in awe as the ship dodged a fast-moving rock, "Most Second Officers don't have this kind of skill."

"Well, I did take over the helm a few times during my career," Farin grinned as he danced the _Clee San_ through the massive swarm of asteroids, "So I've quite a bit of practice under my belt."

"Captain, I've got a lock on the signal source," Cara exclaimed as she relayed the information to the auxiliary viewscreens, "It's a derelict artefact of some sort, preliminary scans indicate an age of about a million or so Hiigaran years."

"Wow. Can we go in and pick it up?"

"I'm afraid not, it's about the size of a corvette," Cara replied, "We'll need a Worker to do the towing... Wait, I'm picking up a massive energy spike on the far side of the sector!"

"Is it hostile?" Farin asked worriedly. The last thing they needed now was another Turanic Raider attack far from Hiigaran space.

"Nope, it's friendly," Cara sighed in relief, "It's a Bentusi tradeship, and they're hailing us."

"Patch them through," Farin ordered promptly as he steered the _Clee San_ into a small clearing devoid of asteroids. The commlink came to life as the Bentusi established communications.

_"Greetings Hiigaran vessel."_

"Greetings," Farin responded, "Is anything the matter?"

_"You have found a most mysterious artefact that is of interest to the Bentusi,"_ the collective voice replied, "_Our own sensors have detected its presence since time immemorial, but we have been unable to approach it."_

"Is it because of the asteroids?" Farin enquired, dumbfounded that even a race as advanced as the Bentusi were unwilling to bring their ships into the area. Given their rapid fire ion cannons, taking care of the asteroids should be a piece of cake for them.

_"Indeed, the circumstances of this region of space have proven too dangerous for us to approach the artefact,"_ the tradeship explained, "_We therefore have a request to make."_

"You'd like us to salvage it for you?"

_"That would be most helpful,"_ came the reply, _"But please take note that by doing so, the artefact automatically becomes our property. However, we are willing to give something in exchange."_

"Something in exchange?" Farin's eyes lit up. Bentusi technology would certainly help Somtaaw greatly in difficult times such as these.

_"We will wait on the outskirts of the asteroid field."_ the voice added as the tradeship cut off communications. Farin looked to his crew for advice.

"We should consult Khontala on this matter first," Ishbar suggested, "I don't think we'd like to offend him any further."

"But we could be looking at breakthrough technology here," Aaraan mentioned, "I'm sure Khontala wouldn't mind giving up some space junk for Bentusi tech."

"But what if the artefact contains technology far greater than that of the Bentusi?" Darum asked, "We could be shortchanged if that were the case."

"Well, even if it contains superior weapons technology, we have no use for it," Cara said, "We're a mining Kiith – let's just leave the wars to the warrior Kiith."

"You've got a point Cara," Farin acknowledged, "Besides, the Bentusi have helped us so much during the past eight years as well as during the Homeworld War. We should return the favour."

"Should I contact the _Faal Corum_?" Cara asked, "_Faal Corum_ should be arriving shortly to check on our status."

"At once, Cara," Farin replied, "Tell them that we'll need the best Worker pilot taking part in this salvage operation."

"Got it," Cara responded as she tapped at her console to establish the long range transmission, "_Clee San_ to _Faal Corum_, do you read?"

A buzz of static told Cara that they were still out of range. She turned to Farin and shook her head. Farin sighed.

"I guess we'd better jump out of here first before the rocks get us," Farin muttered as he saw another swarm move in to fill the temporary clearing, "Let's go."

And the _Clee San_ made the leap to hyperspace.


	6. Retrieval and Reward

**TRUTH SEEKER**

**CHAPTER 5: RETRIEVAL AND REWARD

* * *

**

"Hyperspace jump successful," Farin announced as the _Clee San_ returned to normal space outside the asteroid field, "Now we wait."

Farin leant back and stretched his stiff limbs. It was certainly a stressful job piloting a not-so-manoeuvrable ship through a turbulent asteroid field. Hell, back at the Diamond Shoals, even the nimble strike craft had to fly carefully.

Of course, the good thing was that _Clee San_ was still in one piece. Heaven knows what Khontala would have done if the _Clee San_ had been smashed and the crew made it back alive.

"I've found the Bentusi tradeship," Cara reported after a consultation with the ship's sensors, "They're on the eastern fringe of the asteroid field."

"Are they doing anything in particular?"

"Nothing, the tradeship's just holding position in space," Cara replied as she interpreted the readings.

"Alright guys, you can all go take a break," Farin spoke, "What happens after this is _Faal Corum'_s job, not ours."

Darum, Aaraan and Ishbar gratefully got up from their stations and left the bridge, leaving Faring resting in his chair. Cara remained busy at her station, continuing deep scans of the asteroid field from their current position.

"The outer regions of the asteroid field are pretty stable," Cara commented, "There're enough resources in the area to last a few good months' mining."

"I guess that's why _Faal Corum_ was scheduled to come here for its maiden mining mission," Farin spoke casually with his eyes closed, "A bit reckless, though, for Khontala to send the Explorer so far beyond Hiigaran space."

"You don't really trust the Blade Mk. 5s, do you?"

"Just look at how they performed back at the last battle," Farin muttered in an annoyed voice, "Even the so-called technologically-inferior Raider interceptors were able to outmanoeuvre them. What if we had gone against Triikors instead?"

"Oh well..." Cara conceded as she got up and yawned. She was about to leave the bridge when her console began beeping again. Cara sighed and returned to her seat.

"It's the _Faal Corum_," Cara noted, "Patching Hraal through now."

Farin quickly sat up as Cara opened the audio channel.

"This is Captain Farin of the _Clee San_," Farin began.

"Commander Hraal here, _Faal Corum'_s receiving you loud and clear," came the reply, "We'll be exiting hyperspace in two minutes' time. I trust nothing bad's happened to your ship?"

"I wouldn't dare, not with Khontala around," Farin replied slightly nervously, "What happened to Kiith'sa?"

"Last I heard, Karan had him sedated so they could transfer him safely to the Mothership Station," Hraal responded, "Then we were despatched on our first mission."

"There's been a slight change of plans," Farin started with uncertainty in his voice, "I'm not sure if Kiith'sa would approve of it."

"What do you mean?"

"We've checked out the signal echoes, and it turns out there's an ancient artifact in that particular region of the asteroid field," Farin explained, "Then the Bentusi came along and asked for us to salvage it for them. If we do, the artifact automatically becomes their property, but they'll give us something in return."

"That's interesting," Commander Hraal mumbled as he considered the matter thoroughly, "Have your scans revealed anything that would be of particular interest to Kiith Somtaaw?"

"Nothing in particular, commander," Cara reported, "Only that the thing's about a million years old."

"I see... Very well then, since Bentusi technology would be most beneficial to our space programme, I guess it would be fine with Khontala if we went ahead with the operation."

"Thanks Hraal," Farin gushed, "I was worried you wouldn't approve – I'd hate to disappoint the Bentusi."

"We'll despatch Workers once we're in normal space. However, we'll require the assistance of your ship to provide sensor guidance."

"No problems, Cara'll handle it," Farin replied as the commlink closed.

"_Faal Corum_ is exiting hyperspace behind us," Cara reported as her visual feeds showed the large quantum wavefront sliding through space and revealing the mighty Explorer class vessel."

As the _Faal Corum'_s quantum wavefront closed, the rounded and sleek harvesters known as Workers began launching from the hangar bays. They were far more compact than the old Providence class collector while hauling nearly as much resources per trip. As the Workers glided off to pull valuable resources from the nearby asteroids, one of the ships moved up alongside the _Clee San_.

"Farin Somtaaw," Commander Hraal's voice came in over the commlink again, "I believe you were responsible for piloting the _Clee San_ into the asteroid field?"

"Yes, why do you ask?" Farin enquired innocently. A few seconds later, the implications hit him squarely in the head.

"Let me guess... you want me to pilot the Worker myself?"

"The other Worker pilots don't have your experience," Hraal replied plainly, "So what better way to do it than to have you go in and grab the artifact?"

The _Clee San_ shook slightly as the Worker docked with a dull clang. Farin sighed and got up from his seat.

"Cara, prepare to take us into the asteroid field," Farin ordered as he walked towards the door, "You do know how to execute wake jumps, don't you?"

"I've done research on hyperspace before, Farin," Cara reminded exasperatedly, "It's just a matter of whether _Clee San'_s hyperdrive can do it."

"Wait," Farin suddenly paused, "Is there anyone else on this ship who can dodge asteroids well enough?"

Cara shrugged and returned her gaze to the sensors screen.

"I think you can trust Ishbar on that, he's had some experience as a Providence pilot back in the Homeworld War."

"Well, that ought to be enough," Farin concluded brightly, "Just try not to blow this ship up."

"Look who's talking," Cara chuckled as the bridge doors closed behind him, shutting out Farin's annoyed "Hey!"

* * *

"Damn," Farin muttered as he tried to make himself comfortable inside the cramped cockpit of the Worker. Because the Worker had to be compact as well as haul an acceptable amount of resources, cockpit space had to be sacrificed to make way for larger storage bays.

After a few seconds of struggling with the seatbelts, Farin gave up and glanced through the controls. They looked simple enough, so he jiggled them a bit just to get a feel of how they might work.

"Captain, we're ready for the jump," came Cara's nonchalant voice over the commlink, "You might want to undock from the _Clee San_ now."

"Oh yeah," Farin muttered as he struggled to find the appropriate controls. He tugged at a few levers and the airlock sealed shut. A series of thuds indicated that the resourcer had released its grip on the _Clee San_ and was drifting freely in space.

"Stand by for hyperspace wake jump..." Cara muttered. Then Farin felt the Worker shake as the quantum wavefront swept through it, dragging it into hyperspace and then out again. Farin cursed and quickly swerved the Worker away from a nasty asteroid that was plummeting towards him.

"Nice place to jump us to, Cara," Farin commented sarcastically as he quickly dodged a few more spiralling chunks.

"It's much faster to just jump straight to the artifact's coordinates," Cara replied, "Don't worry, my calculations indicated that we would not be hit upon exit from hyperspace."

"Of course, of course..." Farin muttered as he steered the Worker through the mess of asteroids towards the derelict up ahead. Strangely enough, the derelict was completely still in its position in space, with the asteroids somehow avoiding it automatically by sheer coincidence.

"Qwaar Jet be damned," Farin mumbled as the Worker entered the small clearing around the artifact, "The Bentusi are after a divine lucky charm."

A light pull of a lever brought the Worker down to low speed, the ship approaching the artifact cautiously like a predator sneaking up on its prey. The size of the artifact became all too apparent at such close range – it was almost as large as the Worker itself. Farin wondered if the Worker's drives could handle the stress.

A few deft touches on the controls brought the Worker above the artifact. Then the ship's four docking arms to splayed outwards as the Worker's tractor beams caught hold of the artifact and tried to drag the derelict towards it. However, the artifact's mass was substantial, causing the Worker to be dragged towards it instead.

"_Tractor lock confirmed,"_ chirped the computer as the Worker stabilised itself on top of the derelict.

"Now that wasn't so difficult..." Farin sighed in relief as he turned the ship around to face the _Clee San_. To his horror, he saw the tiny frigate frantically dodging the biggest asteroid swarm he had ever seen.

The science frigate was pushing towards him at maximum speed with the swarm of rocks following closely behind. The chunks were so close to each other that even a fighter would have tremendous difficulty manoeuvring between them, much less a far more massive frigate class vessel.

"Cara to Farin, get the hell outta the way!" Cara nearly screamed, "That swarm's almost on top of us!"

Farin quickly swerved the Worker around again, the hull metal screeching against the inertia of the derelict's added mass. Then the twin engines fired up, leaving white vapour trails as the Worker dragged its cargo through space and away from the killer swarm.

"The hell are you waiting for, Cara," Farin exclaimed irritatedly, "Take us into hyperspace now!"

"I'm afraid that's not possible Captain," came the apologetic reply, "Hyperspace module won't be sufficiently charged for another two minutes."

"Well, there won't be anything left of us in a few seconds!" Farin almost yelled as he poured more power into the Worker's drives. The ship accelerated slightly more, then reached a constant velocity as the drives hit their limits.

He had never felt so afraid in his life. Here he was trapped inside a compact ball of metal with no ability to make emergency jumps. Behind him was an equally useless frigate that was incapable of using its hyperdrive at the critical moment. Making matters worse was the fact that his Worker was lugging along a particularly large piece of baggage that was straining the ship's speed and mobility.

Farin had visions of the asteroids plummeting into the _Clee San'_s hull, crumpling it like it were paper before smashing the reactor core itself. The ship lit up the asteroid field as the reactor went critical, vaporising everything and everyone onboard. Then the asteroids came and finished the job, stabbing mercilessly into the Worker's fragile frame...

How surprised he was when the blue light of the quantum wavefront washed across the ship, dropping him back beside the Bentusi tradeship.

_"Do not worry, the danger is over now,"_ came the reassuring collective voice of the Bentusi, "_We have saved your science ship as well."_

Farin didn't know how to respond. One moment ago he was facing certain death in a remote asteroid field. Next minute he was very much alive in friendlier circumstances.

"Erm... thanks..." was all that Farin managed to coax out of his mouth.

* * *

**Onboard the _Clee San_, Outskirts of Eos asteroid field:**

The doors to the bridge swished open and Farin stumbled in, collapsing in a sweaty heap at his trusty command station. Cara was wiping droplets of perspiration off her face, while Ishbar was panting nervously at the auxiliary helm station. A second later, Aaraan and Darum waltzed onto the bridge, blissfully unaware of the emergency that had just taken place.

"What's wrong, people?" Aaraan asked curiously as he noticed the dishevelled faces on the bridge, "You look like you've been through hell."

"By the way, who was at the helm just now?" Darum demanded, "The ship was shaking so bad I couldn't get any proper work done at all!"

Ishbar and Farin swivelled around to glare at the innocent duo. They contemplated physical violence for a while, then decided instead to swivel their chairs back and rest their heads on their consoles. Cara just gave a loud sigh as she cleaned her damp sweaty hands on her uniform.

_"Hiigaran vessel, we thank you for your assistance in this matter,"_ the Bentusi spoke over the _Clee San'_s communications channel, _"We will fulfil our part of the bargain – we are now transmitting the necessary data to your onboard computers."_

Cara's console began beeping steadily as a steady stream of information began downloading into its databanks. The transfer was completed in a few seconds and Cara hastily accessed the data. She scrutinised the details for a while before letting loose a loud gasp of astonishment.

_"The transfer has been completed. Farewell."_

As the Bentusi spoke those words, a brilliant vermillion quantum wavefront opened up and swallowed the tradeship whole, before collapsing into the blackness of space.

"What is it, Cara?" Farin asked excitedly as he got up and joined the others who were gathered around the science station where Cara was seated at. They were all staring with eyes wide open and mouths agape. Puzzled, Farin peered over their shoulders to get a glimpse of Cara's viewscreen.

"By Sajuuk..." Farin uttered when he saw the images displayed plainly on Cara's station.

"I think we won't need those Blades anymore," Cara whispered as she studied the detailed schematics of an advanced fighter and drive system based on Bentusi technology. It was codenamed under the undecipherable Bentusi language, but a translator program quickly converted it to readable Hiigaran characters.

"_Acolyte class fighter"_ was painted in bold letters on top of the list of details.


	7. Deep Space

**TRUTH SEEKER**

**CHAPTER 6: DEEP SPACE

* * *

**

"Khontala wants us to what?" Farin exclaimed loudly when he heard the news.

"I didn't have time to explain your reasons to him, he was getting prepped for some emergency surgery," Commander Hraal replied sheepishly, "He wants it done ASAP."

"Hraal, with all due respect, taking deep scans of Bentusi tradeships is going to be pretty rude."

"I understand that, but Khontala said that the data would be useful for future ship design developments. Besides, given _Clee San'_s range, I'm sure you could go in without them noticing..."

"_Clee San'_s sensors array is impressive," Farin admitted, "But I don't think that the Bentusi are that far behind in sensors technology either. Hell, they're probably the most technologically advanced race in this Galaxy!"

"Well, you have your orders Farin," Hraal reminded, "You offended Khontala once, I'm sure you wouldn't want to do that again."

Farin sighed and closed the channel, indicating that he accepted the mission without protest. Cara shrugged as she monitored the readings at her science station.

"I've got to admit, Khontala's probably a bit too greedy on this one," Cara commented, "He probably took one look at the Acolyte design and decided he wanted more."

"Perhaps so," Farin replied resignedly, "But I don't understand his reasons for this – the Acolyte alone puts us way ahead of the other Kiith in strike craft technology."

"Indeed. We are, after all, just a mining Kiith," Cara said as she leant back in her chair, "I'd like to think that his engineers are looking for a way to design better resourcers."

"Using top-of-the-line Bentusi tech?" Farin rolled his eyes sceptically, "That's a little overkill if you ask me."

"Whatever, you accepted the mission, so we have to go scan them, even if it means getting our heads blown off," Cara replied as she powered up the long range sensors, "Sensors and safety interrupt are standing by."

"Got it," Farin noted as he signalled to the rest of the bridge. Pyra nodded and walked briskly off the bridge to man his post in the drive section. The rest of the crew fastened their seatbelts in anticipation of the jump.

"Coordinates set, engaging hyperspace module," Farin announced as he flipped the switch.

* * *

**Onboard the Mothership Station, high orbit over Hiigara:**

Karan watched as the anaesthetised Khontala was wheeled into the operating theatre. She murmured a silent prayer for the Somtaaw Kiith'sa, wishing for the Gods to watch over him. As Karan finished the prayer, Admiral Rey walked up to her and saluted the Sjet Kiith'sa smartly.

"Is anything the matter?" Karan asked the Soban officer. Having served honourably in the Homeworld War, Rey had been promoted to his current position and put in charge of the Soban Great Fleet. However, his presence before Karan now could only mean that some major military event was underfoot.

"Lady Sjet, one of our patrol fleets have picked up considerable Imperialist movement on the northern outskirts of the control zone," Rey reported straight to the point, "I have reason to believe that the Imperials are preparing for a major assault into our space."

"This is a most serious matter," Karan spoke gravely, "Have the other Great Fleets been informed?"

"Not yet, I decided to seek your advice before taking such action," Rey replied, "I did not wish to spark off any unnecessary panic."

"Well, it is unusual for the Imperials to be moving so close to our borders," Karan commented as she weighed the situation, "They usually operate far from our space and prey upon lone Hiigaran merchant ships. I believe such a change in their actions is cause enough for worry."

"Then I shall inform the rest of the Great Fleets at once," Rey noted firmly, "Is there anything else?"

"Perhaps we should bring the populace up to yellow alert," Karan suggested, "That way if the Imperialists somehow make it to Hiigara, we can minimise civilian casualties."

"I will bear your advice in mind, Lady Sjet," Rey replied as he gave a farewell salute. Karan nodded as the Admiral took his leave.

Landfall hadn't been the utopian age Karan had dreamed of. Scarcely four years after the Homeworld War, the Imperialist factions had combined forces and invaded the Hiigaran control zone. They were only able to advance a light year into Hiigaran space before intervention by the Galactic Council and the Bentusi halted them in their tracks.

Four years later, the Imperials were moving yet again in their quest to finish the Kharakian Genocide once and for all. The problem was that this time, the Galactic Council and the Bentusi had their hands full dealing with the civil strife that was now ripping the Taiidan Republic from within.

If the Imperialists did indeed mount another invasion into Hiigaran space, they would have no choice but to defend it without assistance from the Council or the Bentusi. While Karan had no doubts about the Six Fleets' ability to defend Hiigara, she was worried about the power and numbers of a far more united Imperialist attack as compared with four years ago.

Once again, it was time to prepare for war.

* * *

**Onboard the _Clee San_, hyperspace transit:**

The doors to the bridge slid open and Rea peered through the doorway nervously. Upon seeing the streams of quantum energy streaking past the viewscreens, he heaved a sigh of relief and went to join the crew.

"I can't believe we survived the asteroid field," Rea muttered as he took a seat beside Darum.

"Well, we had a few near misses..." Ishbar chuckled as he recalled the harrowing experience earlier on. What had originally been a simple task of evading slow rocks had become a nerve-wracking flight from a massive swarm.

"Near misses?" Rea shivered as he imagined the possibilities, "By the way, where are we headed now?"

"We're homing in on one of the Bentusi tradeship signals," Farin said, "Kiith'sa's orders are for us to take a few deep scans of the tradeship."

"Of course, there's also the risk of the Bentusi getting pissed enough to blow us to bits..." Aaraan added unhelpfully. Rea's eyes widened when he heard his colleague's words.

"Stop scaring him, Aaraan," Cara chided as she glanced casually at the spooked Rea, "We can scan from afar, so chances are that we'll not be noticed."

"It's going to be another good four hours before we reach the Inner Rim Dust Bank, so you can all go do whatever you want," Farin said as he stood up and walked towards the doors. As the steel panels slid shut behind him, he yawned loudly and headed for his quarters.

"I wonder how long it'll be before we can get back to Hiigara," Darum muttered as he swivelled his chair around aimlessly, "I didn't expect to go full swing into the science missions this soon after the launch."

The rest of the crew remained silent, either staring at the viewscreens or busying themselves at their respective stations. They too had not been prepared for a deep space voyage this soon, causing homesickness to grip them all tightly.

"I told my mother I'd be gone for only a few days," Ishbar admitted as he tried to occupy himself with the readings on the helm console, "But from the looks of it, we might be gone for much longer."

"To be exact, homing in on a tradeship signal is no guarantee that we'll find one," Cara reminded as she tweaked the sensors to keep the signal in sight, "Since we're not supposed to return without data from the scans, it could well be months before we see Hiigara again."

"Damn," Ishbar swore as he tried to imagine spending much of the remaining year cooped up in a small frigate.

"That's deep space exploration for you Ish," Aaraan said as he pulled a small book from his pocket and started to read, "At least it'll give me time to sit down and read."

"At least you remembered to bring a book. I've got absolutely nothing to do now..." Darum muttered as he got up and promptly left the bridge in search of something to do.

A silence fell over the bridge as everyone found something to occupy time. Cara continued her meticulous job of monitoring the tradeship signals while Aaraan buried himself in his book. Ishbar chose to take a snooze while Rea opted to observe the beauty of hyperspace from the comfort of the bridge.

It was going to be a boring trip.

* * *

Farin sat down on the bunk in his quarters. The bed was small even for someone of his build, but it was cosy enough. He looked at the computerised recorder beside it and thought that he'd start his records.

"Captain's log, 8 AHL," Farin started after he switched on the recorder, "My crew and I are attempting to track down a Bentusi tradeship for our next mission. Our orders are to locate a tradeship and scan it from maximum range so as to avoid detection and offending the Bentusi. While we don't expect to find a tradeship this soon into the mission, I am not looking forward to the encounter."

Farin hesitated for a moment to gather his thoughts, then decided to end it quickly.

"I seriously hope that the _Clee San'_s sensors array truly lives up to its name. If it indeed has a scanning range exceeding that of the Bentusi, we can expect little trouble. Otherwise, we will probably need all the luck we can get."

Farin thought for another moment before stopping the recording. He lay down in the bunk and sighed.

"Working on a Revelation's safer than this," he mumbled.


	8. Overheard Conversation

**TRUTH SEEKER**

**CHAPTER 7: OVERHEARD CONVERSATION

* * *

**

"Whoa, this place really looks... dusty," Ishbar commented as the _Clee San'_s quantum wavefront closed behind it.

"They don't call this the Inner Rim Dust Bank for nothing," Cara replied as she took a moment to gaze at the new region they were in.

The _Clee San_ had exited hyperspace in the middle of a gargantuan dust cloud. The space dust stretched far and wide for light years in every direction, creating a misty effect around the brilliant light of the Galactic Core in the distance. Some of the dust particles also sparkled in the soft ambient light of the region, creating a beautiful display of light rays shimmering and reflecting around the science ship.

The crew hadn't expected their ship to be the first Hiigaran vessel to explore this region of space. While the Inner Rim Dust Bank was a marvellous sight to behold, the scanner-deflecting properties of the space dust created a tremendous amount of interference. If it were not for the _Clee San'_s impressive sensors suite, they would have been quite blind to anything around them.

The bridge doors slid open silently as Farin walked in. He too was stunned for a few seconds by the sheer beauty and majesty of the Inner Rim Dust Bank.

"All this while I've believed the Great Nebula of Kadesh to be the most beautiful scenic spot in this Galaxy," Farin uttered with a voice filled with awe, "Turns out there's still many places of beauty I've yet to see."

"Whatever, we didn't come here for the sights," Rea reminded, "The sooner we get this done and over with, the sooner we can return home."

"Well, I'm not picking up the tradeship anywhere on long range sensors," Cara reported solemnly, "Either the dust is interfering with our sensors, or the tradeship's gone."

"It's probably the interference," Farin said as he sat down at the command station, "Cara, can you trace the last signal transmission?"

"I'm doing my best to narrow it down, but there's just too much interference," Cara replied, "All I can say is that it could be anywhere within a radius of three light seconds of our position."

An audible groan could be heard around the bridge when Cara explained the situation. The only way to locate the tradeship now was by sight, and visibility in the dust cloud was not exactly ideal.

"I can try to recalibrate the sensors to suit the conditions here," Cara offered, "But it won't make much of a difference."

"Just do it, we need as much sensor fidelity as we can get," Farin ordered as he signalled to the rest to start looking. Everyone sighed at the gruelling task of scanning the dusty heavens by naked eye.

Farin himself knew that depending on visual cues was completely ineffective, there being such a great volume of space to search through. The dust was so thick in some areas that even the light from the Galactic Core was obscured completely occasionally.

Then a loud ping erupted from Cara's station, surprising everyone.

"What was that?" Farin asked, hoping for the best.

"I've just recalibrated the sensors, and I'm picking up a faint signal echo a few dozen kilometres in front of us," Cara explained, "But I don't think it could be the tradeship, since I'm not picking up any large power signatures in that general direction."

"Perhaps the dust is masking the power signature as well," Farin suggested as he gripped the flight controls, "I'll bring us in for a closer look."

The frigate's drives came to life and pushed the ship through the expanse of dust. Nothing new popped up on the viewscreen, just more space dust. As the _Clee San_ creeped forward at quarter speed, Cara kept her eyes glued to the sensors screen for any changes.

"This is giving me the creeps," Rea muttered as the ship continued to push forward under Farin's careful steering.

"Well, we've got the advantage of sight here, so it's likely that we'll be able to catch it on our sensors before they do, assuming we're dealing with a ship of some sort," Aaraan reasoned.

"I'm getting more sensor information now," Cara mumbled as she began interpreting the new readings they were getting at closer range, "One thing is certain – it's not a tradeship."

Another sigh of disappointment went through the crew as the realisation sank in – Hiigara was going to have to wait.

"No harm finding out what it is," Farin spoke as he pushed the ship to half speed. The _Clee San'_s drives shivered slightly as they pumped out more power.

"Holy Kharak! Stop the ship!" Cara cried as the sensors revealed even more information. Alarmed, Farin cut the frigate's drive power and brought the ship to a full stop.

"What is it? What did you find?" Rea asked nervously, unsure of what to make of this sudden outburst.

"It's a full Turanic Raider carrier fleet," Cara replied with a tinge of fear in her voice, "And there's also an Imperialist carrier fleet with them."

"Damn, I love this ship's sensors," Farin uttered, "Have we been noticed?"

"No, the space dust is hiding us nicely," Cara replied as she powered up the sensors array to the maximum, "It appears that both fleets are meeting to discuss something."

"Can you intercept their communications from here?" Farin asked, his mind working overtime to figure out what a sizeable enemy force was doing in the Dust Bank.

"No problem, rerouting signal to the computers now," Cara said as the _Clee San'_s communications system came to life. Static buzzed through the channel for a good few seconds before any audible words came through.

"...You want revenge for what happened to the _Rancor_, don't you?" spoke a voice. Farin guessed it was probably the Imperialist commander, judging from the Taiidan accent it possessed.

"Of course, we naturally wish to make the Hiigarans pay for their actions," another voice came, this time low and gruff. Farin instantly recognised it as Turanic.

"I have been meeting with the other factions' commanders for some time now, and we have been putting resources together for a major offensive. Now would be the opportune time to strike since the Council and the Bentusi are busy with the pathetic Republic's civil war."

"I see this opportunity as well. However, the Hiigarans remain a formidable force even without aid from the Council or the Bentusi. How will we guarantee victory in this attack?"

"You've hit the problem spot on, not bad for a pirate... Anyway, the so-called Six Great Fleets are indeed a strong defensive force on their own. For this purpose, I have arranged a special manoeuvre with my fellow Imperialist allies."

"A 'special manoeuvre?'"

"By now, they will have been assembling a sizeable force near the northern outskirts of the Hiigaran control zone. Not large enough for a direct assault on the Exiles' homeworld, but sufficient to get the Six Fleets' attention."

"A feint?"

"That's the plan. That is why I need to borrow whatever firepower your fleets can spare. Once we are in position, I will signal for my allies to make an incursion from the North and pretend to charge for Hiigara. Once Hiigaran resources have been despatched to deal with the feint, our actual invasion will begin from the South."

"A most devious plan, and we Raiders shall support it fully. I will relay the message to the rest of the carrier fleets – where is the rendezvous point?"

"The Shining Hinterlands south of Hiigara. There you will find the rest of my forces along with the main bulk of my allies' fleets."

"Very well, we will meet your forces once our preparations are done. However, I must warn you that the Hiigarans have recently built two new near-mothership class vessels."

"Near-mothership class vessels? Explain."

"We recently lost contact with one of our carrier groups waiting to ambush merchant vessels in Hiigaran space. The last word we got from them was of two near-mothership class command vessels that are far more considerably armed than the Exiles' original Mothership."

"Do you have any reasons to believe it is a threat?"

"It appears to be built primarily for the purpose of mining, so we can expect them to provide little assistance for the war effort. However, those command ships themselves carry substantial firepower. We will thus need to exercise caution in the attack."

"That is a most interesting discovery. I thank you for your information. Till we meet again."

Static cluttered the channel once more as the conversation ended. As Cara powered down the system, everyone else continued to stare at the comlink speakers in disbelief.

"...A feint attack?" Ishbar managed to say after a good minute of silence.

"Distracting the Six Fleets?" Rea uttered as he considered the dire consequences.

"Attack Hiigara?" Aaraan said as he tried to get to grips with the new situation.

"This could have very serious implications for us," Farin commented gravely, "The Imperialists are right about the Council and the Bentusi. Last I heard back on my destroyer assignment, the Republic's experiencing a large-scale civil war."

"Meaning that if they do attack, we're on our own..." Ishbar noted.

"And if they do succeed in the feint..." Rea muttered, trying to keep his mind off the consequences.

"We have no time to lose – we need to get back to Hiigara on the double and warn the Daiamid," Farin declared as he began keying in the coordinates for home.

"Captain?" Cara suddenly asked, her voice laced with a dash of trepidation, "I'm afraid we can't make a hyperspace jump at the moment."

"Why not?" Farin continued to key in the hyperspatial coordinates, "As far as I know, the hyperspace module's fully charged."

"Captain, we've been noticed," Cara answered, "The Imperialists have activated a hyperspace damping field."

Farin paused when he heard Cara's words. He looked up from the hyperdrive controls and stared at Cara, who returned the gaze with a look of fear on her face.

"How the hell did they find us?" Farin demanded as he turned his attention back to the main viewscreen and hovered his hands over the helm controls.

"They know we're here somehow, but they don't know where _exactly_," Cara replied as she monitored the movements of the enemy vessels, "The dust cloud is hiding us from their sensor sweeps."

"It must be when Cara tapped into their conversation," Aaraan suggested as he proceeded to set all of the ship's systems to minimal power mode, "The tapping must have caused some sort of transmission interference that they picked up."

"Cara, will the dust cloud hide our drive energy signature?" Farin asked, hoping that it would.

"It will, but at such close range the Imperial sensors will pick up anything in excess of half speed," Cara cautioned.

"That's good enough for me," Farin replied as he flipped the necessary switches.

Slowly but steadily, the _Clee San_ began to turn away from the Imperialist-Raider fleet up ahead. Moments later, the main drives came to life, releasing the plasma that provided propulsion to the frigate. Farin was extremely cautious, taking care not to exceed one third of the _Clee San'_s maximum drive power. Although Cara had stated that it was possible to use half speed without detection, he did not want to find out if that was truly the case.

"How far does that damping field extend?" Farin asked as he felt the ship vibrate slightly, the drives putting distance between them and the enemy fleet.

"If we maintain speed and continue moving with this heading, we'll be clear to jump in twenty minutes' time," Cara replied calmly.

"Damn, tell me they aren't scouting the area for us?"

"I'm afraid they are," Cara reported apologetically, "Long range scanners indicate that the Imperials have launched several scout squadrons. One of them will come within visual range in three minutes."

"Sajuuk be damned," Farin cursed loudly, "If only there were some way for us to..."

The captain paused for a moment as he rolled the thought around in his mind.

"Farin to Pyra," Farin spoke into the intercom, "You know this ship best. How long will the air last without life support?"

"Provided we don't undertake any vigorous physical activity, anywhere between fifteen minutes to half an hour. Why do you ask?"

"Alright, we're running silent. Pyra, I need you to shut down the reactor core and set auxiliary power to a minimum."

"Captain, that will leave the ship without power!" the engineer replied in a shocked voice.

"Just do it Pyra, Farin out," Farin ordered as he switched the intercom off, "Okay, everyone, breathe only what you need – we're going silent."

The rest of the crew nodded and took deep breaths. At the same time, the soft whir of life support died away along with the rest of the ship, plunging the bridge into darkness. Only Cara's viewscreen remained lit, displaying vital sensor data. That was all the power that could be spared without compromising their stealth.

The sensors console beeped softly, displaying the _Clee San_ as a green dot and the scout squadron as a small cluster of five red dots.

"We're still drifting at one third speed I hope?" Farin spoke softly, trying to use as little air as possible.

Cara nodded and pointed at the screen, which plainly showed the _Clee San_ moving slowly away from the Imperial fleet and the source of the damping field. The beeping became quicker as the scout squadron came closer and closer.

Cara pressed another button and another viewscreen on her console flared into life. As the interference cleared, it displayed the dusty realm of the Inner Rim Dust Bank. Like before, there was nothing different whatsoever – just dust, dust, and even more dust.

Then Farin saw some tiny specks in the distance. The specks were very much obscured by the clouds of space dust, but the vapour trails behind the specks gave them away as the Imperialist scout squadron. As the specks came closer, Farin could make out the distinctive shapes of the Fiirkan class scout fighters.

The scouts soon came within plain view. They were flying in a straight line a few hundred metres above the _Clee San'_s horizontal plane. Farin gasped when he saw the scouts slow down.

"Damn, have they found us?" he whispered nervously. If the scout squadron caught sight of hem, then they'd almost certainly be doomed. There was no way an unarmed science frigate could stand up to a war-hungry Imperialist carrier fleet.

The scout squadron slowed down until they were moving no faster than frigates. They moved slowly through the dust cloud, coming ever closer to the drifting _Clee San_. Soon, the squadron disappeared from the visual sensors' line of sight. Everyone turned their attention to the sensors screen immediately, which showed the squadron hovering just above the _Clee San_.

And there they stayed.

"Koshiir Ra protect us," Rea murmured as he stared at the bleak sensor outlook before them. The scout squadron had definitely stopped for a reason. Perhaps their attempts at evading detection were all in vain.

The air onboard the _Clee San_ was starting to become stale, for life support had been off for a good few minutes now. The breaths of the crew became slower as they realised that the air would not last forever.

Then the sensors console started beeping again as it showed the scout squadron move again, departing from its position above the _Clee San_. To everyone's relief, the fighters did not immediately swerve around to return to the Imperialist fleet.

"I don't believe it, we made it..." Farin uttered, relief washing over him and the rest of the crew.

"Not so fast," Cara whispered, "We're still within active sensor range of the scouts. We'll need to wait another minute before we can power up."

Hopeful eyes remained fixed on the sensors screen as the red dots moved farther and farther away. A soft groan went through the bridge as the red dots turned around to follow a preset patrol pattern. It would take far longer for the _Clee San_ to leave the Fiirkans' sensor range.

The red dots moved on and neared the limit of their sensor range. This time, to everyone's relief, the fighters did not swerve around but instead moved on. A loud ping from the sensors console indicated that they were in the clear.

Farin jumped back into his seat and brought auxiliary power up to the max.

"Pyra come in! We're clear! Power up the reactor now!" Farin spoke urgently into the intercom.

Almost instantly, the lights on the bridge flickered on as power began coursing through the ship once again. The soft whirring sound of ventilation fans returned as cool, fresh air started flooding in. One by one, the computer screens burst into life.

"All systems are go!" Aaraan announced.

"Let's get the hell outta here," Farin declared as he powered up the _Clee San'_s drives. The ship lurched forward at half speed, moving even farther from the Imperialist fleet holding it prisoner.

"Emergency alert, sensors picking up enemy ships on incoming vectors!" Cara cried.

"The hell! I thought we were in the clear..." Farin exclaimed in a shocked voice, "Martyrs of Kharak, that scout squadron must have just been pretending not to see us..."

"...and in doing so, bought time for the Imperial assault vessels to move in," Ishbar finished with a gloomy voice.

"Then there's only one thing to do," Farin muttered as he tweaked a few controls, "We're running!"

The _Clee San'_s fusion drives roared as they went to maximum power, pushing the frigate forward at flank speed. While there was no way for the _Clee San_ to outrun the Imperialist corvettes and fighters, the Somtaaw engineers had designed it to be faster than any Imperialist or Turanic Raider capital ship.

"Imperialist strike craft closing in, they'll come within firing range in two minutes," Cara announced solemnly.

"How much longer before we're out of the damping field?" Farin asked in a hopeful voice.

"Approximately five minutes, captain," Cara replied.

"Prepare a communications disruption," Farin ordered, "Aaraan, reconfigure the sensors array for a sensors disruption as well. We're going to need all the distractions we can get."

"Roger that!" Cara and Aaraan answered in unison as they went about their work.

"Pyra, I need more speed," Farin demanded.

"Captain, I can give you thirty percent more, and nothing else," the engineer replied, "Anything more, and the drives'll blow."

"Then do it!" Farin nearly yelled.

"Affirmative, captain," Pyra acknowledged. Almost immediately, the _Clee San_ was flung forward by the extra boost.

"Updating intercept times... Strike craft will reach firing range in eighty seconds, we will leave the damping field in three minutes," Cara reported, "Standing by to activate communications disruption."

"Sensors array reconfigured to disrupt enemy sensors," Aaraan announced, "Standing by to disrupt."

"Prepare to activate both disruptions on my mark," Farin replied.

The _Clee San_ fled on through space, its drives trying to outrun the nimble Imperialist strike craft in vain. As the Diirvaas multigun corvettes and Triikor interceptors closed on the unarmed science ship, Farin took a deep breath.

"Strike craft will reach firing range in thirty seconds," Cara reported, anxiety growing in her voice.

"Disrupt now!" Farin yelled.


	9. Unbound Intervention

**TRUTH SEEKER**

**CHAPTER 8: UNBOUND INTERVENTION

* * *

**

"Disrupt now!" Farin yelled.

Cara and Aaraan responded instantly, sending the invisible waves of interference surging away from the fleeing science ship. The sensors and communications disruptions' effects could be seen almost immediately with the Imperialist strike craft suddenly swerving out of formation. Farin gave a victory cry when he saw the success of the disruption.

Having flown fighter class strike craft before, Farin knew exactly the importance of uninterrupted communications between each fighter. Interceptors had very little firepower as compared with the other ships in the Hiigaran Navy, and they were thus quite useless unless organised in strike formations. Of course, it was almost impossible for any Hiigaran pilot to maintain his or her fighter in close formation with other strike craft at such high speed, much less maintain formation during battles with enemy strike craft. As a result, formation flying was left largely to the fighter craft's onboard computer.

The system worked by establishing a small network link with all other fighters in the same formation. Each fighter's computer would seamlessly upload its coordinate data to the other fighters' computers every millisecond. This allowed every ship in the formation to calculate the immediate locations of the other strike craft, and thus adjust the drives and thrusters accordingly to maintain proper formation.

If that vital link was taken down, formation flying would be tantamount to suicide.

The Imperialist fighters were now effectively unable to maintain their pursuit course of the _Clee San_. They were also blind in space now since their sensors had been temporarily scrambled by the science ship's disruption burst. Without any form of communications with the rest of the fleet, there was no way for the fighters to acquire the necessary sensor data to track the _Clee San_.

"Captain, the Imperialist strike craft have broken off their attack," Cara announced with relief in her voice, "Looks like the disruption was very successful."

"Thank the Maker," Farin gushed as he wiped the sweat from his eyebrows, "We'll be jumping the moment we get out of the damping field, so sit tight everyone!"

"I'll reconfigure the sensor arrays for another disruption," Ishbar said as he rushed for the door, "Chances are they'll have managed to adapt a defence against our initial disruption."

"Do what you can, but watch your step," Farin warned, "There's no telling what could happen next."

The _Clee San_ fled on through the dust cloud, disappearing quickly from the Imperialist fighters' view. They only had a few more seconds before Imperialist communications and sensors were restored, so time was of the essence here.

"Sensors picking up a massive energy signature up ahead," Cara noted, "Power readings are off the scale!"

"It's definitely a Bentusi tradeship," Farin commented in relief, "Hail them."

"Sir, there's an increasing amount of quantum energy," Cara added, "I think they're going to jump!"

"NO WAY!" Farin yelled in dismay.

They had come here with the purpose of performing a deep scan on a Bentusi tradeship. Not only had they not managed to find one, but they also managed to listen in on an Imperialist-Raider communication that had gotten them exposed. And now that they had finally found a tradeship, it was coincidentally undergoing hyperspace procedures.

"Talk about rotten luck," Farin muttered.

"The energy signature's gone Captain," Cara updated with a sigh, "The tradeship's jumped to hyperspace. I'm also picking up additional hostile contacts from the rear."

"They're resuming the chase," Farin growled, "Let's hope the same trick works twice."

"Captain, this is Ishbar," the intercom crackled, "I've reconfigured the sensors array to disrupt on a different frequency."

"Good work Ishbar," Farin praised as he gripped the flight controls more tightly, willing the frigate to go faster, "Cara, Aaraan, prepare a second disruption."

Both of them nodded as they went about making preparations to disrupt Imperialist sensors and communications once more. Hopefully the Imperials would be affected by the recalibrated disruption.

"Disrupt simultaneously when ready," Farin ordered as he banked the _Clee San_ sharply to the right so as to dive the frigate into a denser portion of the dust cloud.

Cara and Aaraan nodded, sending the waves of disruption at the Imperialist fleet once more. The effect was minimal this time, with only a third of the fighters falling out of formation. The rest of the swarm continued on towards their position with minimal trouble.

"Sensor and communications disruptions are losing their effectiveness," Cara reported, "The Imperialist fighters will come within firing range in fifteen seconds."

"Brace for impact," Farin replied as he flew the science frigate deeper and deeper into the dust cloud. There was so much dust in the region that visibility was getting reduced to just a little over a half kilometre.

Then Cara's station began warbling loudly as the _Clee San_ began to shake wildly.

"Emergency alert! Hyperspace exit detected!" Cara cried in alarm, "It's right in front of us!"

"Evading!" Farin yelled as he yanked the controls with all his might. The ship responded by swerving downwards, diving away from the massive quantum waveform shimmering and receding through the dust.

"I don't believe this – the Imperialist carrier has jumped in!" Cara spoke in a resigned voice, "There's no way we can get out of the damping field now."

"I guess this is it," Farin uttered as he felt the ship shake under the attack of the carrier's point defence guns. He flipped open a panel and raised his hand over the self-destruct controls. It would be far too dangerous to leave so much Hiigaran technology in Imperialist hands.

"Wait, sensors are picking up another hyperspace signature," Cara reported as he station began beeping uncontrollably once more, "It'sthe Bentusi tradeship!"

Farin didn't reply, for he was unable to adapt to this sudden reversal of fortunes. All he could do was look at the main viewscreen and watch the massive tradeship emerge from hyperspace behind the carrier. Wasting no time, he quickly steered the _Clee San_ into an intercept course with the tradeship.

_"We have come to aid this Hiigaran vessel,"_ the Bentusi announced in their collective voice, "_Any attempts to attack this Hiigaran ship or ours will be met with severe retaliation."_

Apparently the words of the Bentusi fell on deaf ears, for the Imperialists responded by vectoring their assault ships towards the tradeship. From behind the Imperialist forces came the Turanic Raider strike craft and ion array frigates, which moved quickly to intercept both the _Clee San_ and the tradeship.

_"There is yet time for repentance,"_ the Bentusi spoke again, "_Call off your attack or we will be forced to retaliate."_

Once again, their words were ignored. In an act of defiance, a trio of Imperialist ion frigates came within firing range and powered up their weapons, sending blue beams of ionic energy scorching into the outer hull of the tradeship.

Farin powered down the _Clee San'_s main drives, having manoeuvred into a safe spot behind the tradeship. He tried not to think about what the Unbound would do to the attacking Imperialists and pirates.

_"Only the fools would attack the Unbound. The Bentusi regret these consequences..."_ the voice announced once more in a somewhat apologetic tone.

Ishbar returned to the bridge just in time to see the tradeship power up all three of its rapid fire ion cannons. The bright yellow beams of pure ionic energy slammed into one of the attacking ion frigates, tearing it apart in a matter of seconds.

"Holy Sajuuk..." Ishbar uttered at the awesome sight.

"People, sensors are picking up additional ships launching from the tradeship!" Cara gasped, "They're Acolytes of some sort, but..."

Cara fell silent, as did the rest of the bridge, when the Bentusi fighters dashed towards an Imperialist missile destroyer. Everyone was stunned beyond measure when the fighters fired off dual ion beams, the energy weapons tearing mercilessly into the capital ship's hull. The missile destroyer tried to fend off the assault be firing off volley after volley of missiles, but there was really no way for it to defend itself against an entire formation of no less than a dozen ion fighters, each firing ion beams comparable in strength to those of a standard ion frigate.

Even as the missile destroyer was being ripped to shreds, another two ion fighter formations had descended on another flank of assault frigates. The frigates began exploding in a fireworks display as they succumbed to the intense ionic attack. Meanwhile, the tradeship had finished off the frigate wing attacking it and was now unleashing all three of its ion cannons on the flaming Imperialist carrier.

More and more Imperialist ships were vectored into the assault – a desperate attempt to wrench victory from total defeat. The Turanic Raiders were wiser, choosing to retreat as quickly as they could from the slaughter in space.

The _Clee San_ shuddered slightly as it was buffeted by the shockwave of the exploding carrier. Now that the carrier was gone, the hyperspace damping field had been lifted, allowing the frigate the gift of hyperspace once more. Farin was envious of the Bentusi tradeship, having seen it jump casually in and out of the damping field as if it wasn't there.

The tattered Imperialist fleet was fighting for its life now, with barely fifteen frigates and a few super capital warships against the tradeship and its complement of thirty-six ion fighters. The Qwaar Jet class cruiser went forward in an attempt to draw fire away from the rest of the fleet, but it was vaporised in less than a minute by the combined firepower of both the tradeship and the ion fighters.

When the Bentusi fleet finally powered down its weapons, there was nothing left of the Imperialist fleet. A field of shredded wreckage now floated before the tradeship, which had suffered nothing more than a few ionic scorches to its outer hull armour.

_"Hiigaran vessel, we understand your intentions for seeking us out,"_ the tradeship spoke as it began retrieving its barely damaged fighters, _"We must warn you that any attempt to scan our vessels will be met with hostile action."_

Farin shivered slightly, relieved that they had not performed a deep scan of the Bentusi tradeship. Had they done so, the "hostile action" in retaliation would have been just as spectacular as the one experienced by the Imperialists.

_"We must also ask you to remain silent about the battle that took place here,"_ the tradeship continued, _"For we are a pacifistic people and conflict is not our way."_

"Pacifistic? With all those overpowered ion weaponry at their disposal? You bet," Cara muttered softly as she rolled her eyes in sceptical belief.

_"It is dangerous for a lone unarmed frigate like yours to be wandering this far from Hiigaran space. We must ask you to leave immediately for your own safety. Whether you heed this warning is entirely up to you. Farewell."_

With that, the tradeship opened up its vermillion quantum wavefront and disappeared from realspace.

"Thank Sajuuk we didn't do the scan," Rea suddenly spoke up after remaining silent for much of the mission's duration.

"But what do we tell Khontala now?" Aaraan asked nervously, "He'd have our heads for defying his orders directly."

"I don't think Khontala wants a state of hostility with the Bentusi either," Farin countered, "We should just head back home and explain the situation. I'm sure he'd understand."

"With that temper of his?" Cara sighed.

"Enough discussion, I'm plotting a course for the Homeworld," Farin spoke quickly, "All hands stand by for hyperspace jump."

And the _Clee San_ leapt to hyperspace.

The Turanic carrier watched the little frigate jump from afar. It was a new Hiigaran ship design that was packed with cutting edge Hiigaran sensor technology – certainly a valuable piece of space-faring metal.

Seconds later, the Turanic Raider fleet made the jump to hyperspace. It would retreat from the Hiigaran trade routes for now, but that frigate would certainly remain on the top of its agenda.


	10. Cosmic Highway

**TRUTH SEEKER**

**CHAPTER 9: COSMIC HIGHWAY**

* * *

  
"What do you mean the hyperdrives are 'not working?'" Farin demanded, his voice agitated and annoyed, "They were working fine five minutes ago!"

"_These things happen sometimes captain,"_ the chief engineer's voice sounded somewhat apologetic over the intercom, "_'Mood swings' so to speak."_

"Mood swings or not, we need those hyperdrives working ASAP," the Somtaaw captain demanded, "You do know that we've only just escaped a perilous life and death situation?"

"…_I can only do what I can sir,"_ Pyra responded meekly.

"That's enough Farin," Cara interjected, deciding to intervene on behalf of the poor engineer, "If you keep this up Pyra won't have the time to fix the hyperdrives. Pyra, get to work."

"_At once,"_ the chief engineer replied gratefully when he heard Cara's words, closing the channel as quickly as he could.

"Don't look at me like that," Cara spoke nonchalantly as she returned her attention to the sensors console, ignoring the glares that Farin was now giving her, "I understand the urgency of the situation, but going off like that isn't going to help repair the hyperdrives anyway."

"Urgency?" Farin began again, "We're deep in Raider territory with our hyperdrives offline! And if that's not bad enough, we're also carrying vital information that the Daiamid needs to know about!"

"Look, we're still in the dust bank so at least we'll be well-shielded from any hostile sensor sweeps," Cara answered from her console, "As long as we maintain a low profile…"

It was at that precise moment when the console speakers exploded with a deafening ping, startling everyone on the bridge. Staring at the new readouts that were listing on the viewscreen before her, Cara wore a look of utter shock and horror on her face.

"AARAAN!"

The shrill shriek echoed for a few moments throughout the ship before dying away into an uneasy silence. Then there was a soft beep and a whir as Aaraan peeked cautiously from the open bridge doors. Glancing around at the incensed Cara and the clueless Farin, the scientist could only give a weak smile.

"Do you have _any idea_ what you have just done?" Cara exclaimed, her voice stabbing into the guilty Somtaaw.

"I, er, my finger slipped…" Aaraan began.

"You've just broadcasted our position to everyone and everything within ten light seconds of us, that's what you've done!" Cara cut him off sharply, her eyes boring furiously into the hapless victim.

"So much for 'low profile,'" Farin commented smugly.

"Oh will you just _shut up_!" Cara snapped back as her fingers raced across the console, tapping away frantically as she keyed command after command into the system.

"…_Engineering here,"_ the intercom crackled to life once more, falling silent as Pyra quickly realized the bad timing of his call.

"What is it, Pyra?" Cara hissed as she worked furiously away, as if she could somehow remedy the damage done by the sensor ping.

"…_I've done what I could, and…"_ Pyra hesitated, knowing that Farin in particular would loathe his answer, _"…and the hyperdrives are still not responding."_

"Elaborate," came the nearly instantaneous reply from Farin, his voice easily revealing the ill-intent he now had towards the chief engineer.

"…_There seems to be something interfering with the waveform induction device,"_ Pyra answered cautiously, _"Almost as though some anomaly were preventing the jump…"_

"…But as you know, there is absolutely nothing anomalous about this region," Farin replied dangerously, "Are you sure you checked the hyperdrives very thoroughly?"

"_Err…"_ Pyra trailed off.

"Correct that," Cara cut in, her voice now totally devoid of the rage that had gripped her mere moments ago, "The ping picked up something. Something big."

"How big exactly?" the captain queried as he approached the sensors console, coming to a stop when he caught a glimpse of what Cara was looking at.

"Oh fuck."

* * *

"There seems to be a dust-free clearing around the derelict," Cara spoke up, breaking the stunned silence that had gripped the bridge for the past few minutes, "We should be entering the clearing in ten seconds' time."

Farin didn't respond, choosing to focus on steering the ship forward. A button was tapped and the _Clee San_ leapt forward slightly as though stung by a bee, the frigate's drives providing slightly more thrust.

And then it came into plain view.

A derelict so massive that even the Mothership Station paled in comparison. Dull yellow metal was seamlessly plated into a gargantuan ring that could have easily accommodated the Mothership itself. Around the edges of the ring were other smaller box-like structures that seemed to serve as anchors for the ring sections, which despite their smaller size were still easily larger than the great Scaffold of old Kharak. Altogether, the derelict as a whole was the largest space-faring object they'd seen yet.

"It's a wonder no one has ever discovered this before," Cara mused, "The dust clouds probably hide it from all sensors. But what of its purpose?"

"A gate of some sort maybe?" suggested Ishbar.

"A dead gate at that then, since the sensors picked up nothing," Farin commented as he steered the ship closer to the derelict.

"Yet something has to be responsible for our hyperdrive problems, and I'm guessing the derelict is the cause," Rea added.

"Aaraan, I need you to recalibrate the sensors array for quantum-level scanning," Cara suddenly spoke up from her console.

"Quantum-level scanning?" came the surprised reply, "It will take up most of our processing power. You know what we're looking for?"

"Yes I do, so just do it," Cara answered with a hint of annoyance in her voice, a hint that reminded Aaraan that the lady before him had not yet forgiven him for his past crime. Quietly, he disappeared through the closing bridge doors.

By now the _Clee San_ had approached to a distance close enough for the viewscreen magnification to handle, allowing the crew to make out the strange symbols and letterings that dotted various sections of the old yellow hull.

"What the hell?" Farin mentioned as he gestured towards a cluster of bizarre symbols.

"Obviously it wouldn't be written in our language," Cara muttered as she tapped away at her console, trying to glean more sensor data from the silent hulk before them.

"Not written in our language, yet some similarities remain," Ishbar suddenly said as he squinted at a particular group of letterings.

"Similarities?"

"Some of the letterings are similar to that of the Old Language," Ishbar uttered as he tried to make sense of the symbols, "In fact, this particular group reads 'Eye.'"

"That doesn't make sense," Farin shook his head, "An 'Eye?'"

"A scanning platform perhaps," Ishbar suggested as he attempted to read another cluster of symbols.

"Hold on a sec," Rea spoke up suddenly, pointing towards a section of the derelict hull "Cara, can you magnify that particular area?"

Cara nodded silently and tapped a button. Instantly, the derelict hull section filled the entirety of the main viewscreen. It took only a quick glance for everyone to realize what Rea had found.

An image of three circles arranged in triangular formation, two of which formed the triangle's base. Just about every Hiigaran who survived the Homeworld War had seen this iconic image before.

"…Exactly the same as the imprint on the Hyperspace Core," Farin's eyes widened in disbelief, "What in Sajuuk's name?"

"Excellent discovery Rea," Cara praised as she keyed in a command, commencing a quick scan of the region, "In fact, preliminary analysis shows that metallurgy of the hull is very similar, if not identical, to the material composition of our own Hyperspace Core."

"Intriguing," Ishbar noted as he made careful note of the other lesser symbols surrounding the main trinity of circles, "This will raise interesting questions as to the true origins of our Hyperspace Core."

"But that will have to wait till we can get to safety," Farin reminded as he brought the frigate to a halt, "Remember that we are still in hostile territory. Re-establishing hyperspace capability is our priority."

"No boarding then?" Ishbar asked, looking a little disappointed at Farin's reminder.

"We're not equipped for it I'm afraid," Farin shook his head gravely, "Even if we were, it'd be far too dangerous without any support."

"…_Aaraan to Bridge,"_ Aaraan's voice crackled in over the intercom, _"Sensors array recalibrated for quantum-level scanning. You will have to disable up to fifty percent of computer functions to free up enough processing power though."_

"Put that on the 'to-upgrade' list captain," Cara spoke as she keyed in the necessary commands. For a few moments, the bridge lights flickered as the automating computers juggled their processing capacity to handle the scan. Then the lights reverted to optimal brightness as the scan was concluded.

"Well then, anything that could be stopping us from jumping?" Farin asked impatiently.

"I don't believe it – this really is a hyperspace gate device," Cara began uttering in sheer amazement, "And from the looks of it, it's omni-direction capable!"

"So it can link to more than two gates at a time," Farin continued in a bored voice, "So how is it stopping us from jumping?"

"This," came the quick reply.

A display of the gate and the surrounding space appeared plainly on the main viewscreen, followed quickly by an overlay of multiple blue lines leading away from the gate in several dozen different directions. Some of the lines were thicker and brighter, while others were thinner and duller in colour.

"What you are seeing here is a cosmic record of the various jump routes utilized while the gate was in operation," Cara explained, "Every time a ship hyperjumps, it leaves behind a residual quantum imprint in the surrounding fabric of space-time. This imprint usually dissipates within about seventy-two hours' time, and it's commonly used in sensor sciences to track the trajectories of jumping vessels."

"Why then did these imprints not dissipate over time?" Farin asked.

"Because the jump routes were used very frequently," Cara answered, "So frequently that past imprints were not given a chance to dissipate before the next jump occurred. It all adds up you see, and eventually the imprints become permanently scarred into the space-time continuum. Lines of hyperspatial ruptures in space, so to speak."

"So somehow these ruptures interrupted our jump, and are preventing us from jumping away right now?"

"It seems to be the case," came the reply, "However I am not exactly sure as to how such ruptures actually interfere with hyperjump processes. One thing I might suggest is that the ruptures themselves exert considerable gravitational influence at the quantum level, which I noticed from the scans, thus preventing quantum waveform induction from even occurring in the first place."

"In other words, we're stuck unless we can get far enough from the ruptures?" Farin asked hopefully.

"It seems to be the case at the moment," Cara nodded, "However, the ruptures' gravitational influence stretch over a great distance – we'd have to travel about a month on conventional drives before we are clear to jump."

"Damn it, you know we don't have a month," Farin frowned at the revelation, "Surely there must be some other way…?"

To the captain's disappointment, Cara could only shake her head in defeat. Worse yet was that Cara was _Clee San_'s resident expert on hyperspace and quantum sciences – therefore if even Cara was stumped, odds were that there was no other option.

"…There is something we could try though," Cara finally admitted after a few moments of careful thought, "It is, however, a fairly dangerous option."

"Elaborate."

"Given the instability of the hyperspace ruptures, it may be possible for us to reconfigure the _Clee San_'s hyperdrive to match the quantum energy frequency of one of the ruptures and hence amplify the rupture's instability. When the rupture becomes unstable enough…"

"…It detonates and forms a slipgate," Farin finished.

"A slipgate we could possibly use," Cara added, "However, as I've said, this will be very dangerous, as there's no telling how long the slipgate'll last before it collapses. If a collapse occurs while we are still in the slipstream…"

"…Then Somtaaw loses a very expensive frigate," Farin chuckled slightly at the morbid consequence.

"I think I'd prefer existence over oblivion thank you very much," Ishbar commented as he gave his amused captain a disturbed look.

"You know, I don't really mind the idea of being stuck out here for an additional month," Rea chimed in as well, a nervous grin on his face.

"It makes no difference really," Farin decided to explain upon seeing the nervous looks of his fellow crewmates, "Death by oblivion, or death by ion cannon when the Raiders find us over that one month. Take your pick."

"I might add that the latter is highly possible, given the little… _accident_ that happened just now," Cara added sarcastically when she noticed that the intercom channel was still open. Unsurprisingly, there was no reply from Aaraan.

"Well then – I suppose there is no further objection to the proposed plan?" Farin asked for the last time. Glancing worriedly at each other, Rea and Ishbar could only shrug their shoulders in reluctant agreement.

"It's set then – I'll go inform Pyra about the plan," Cara mentioned as she got up and walked off the bridge.

* * *

"You want me to what?"

"It's our only way out of here," Cara tried explaining to the incredulous chief engineer, "There is no other way for you to get the hyperdrive working short of getting to a minimum safe distance."

"What you're proposing is pretty much going to mock every safety regulation and protocol in the book," Pyra exclaimed, "If Khontala finds out about this…"

"I think we've already set enough precedents regarding 'safety protocol,'" Cara rolled her eyes as she recalled their past exploits with the _Clee San_, "And I'm sure 'deep-scanning' Bentusi tradeships classifies too."

"So you're making Kiith'sa a guilty party too?" Pyra asked as he leaned on one of the hyperdrive's pylons, "That doesn't justify our actions you know."

"But if we pick a rupture that exits nowhere near an outpost, and no one breathes a word about it – who'd know?" the chief science officer gave a sly grin.

Pyra regarded Cara with a suspicious look for a few moments, then sighed in resignation and walked off towards the hyperdrive core systems.

"I suppose you'll make the necessary calibrations then?"

"You know, I had other options regarding my ship postings," Pyra began, ignoring Cara's question completely, "I could either be part of an Explorer engineering team, or… this."

"Chief Engineer must sound very nice, doesn't it?" Cara gave a light chuckle.

"The appointment had nothing to do with it," came the firm reply, "Let's just say that I believed a science vessel to be a much safer place than either _Kuun Lan_ or _Faal Corum_."

"Obviously you must have forgotten the whole 'Where no Hiigaran has gone before' thing," Cara reminded playfully.

"Come on, I thought that was just a figure of speech you science folks thought up! Some publicity stunt or something…"

Pyra trailed off and fell silent, as if he were suddenly lost in thought. Quietly, he went about his work on the hyperdrive core systems – removing panels and tweaking switches. The sudden change alarmed Cara.

"…Are you… alright?" Cara enquired concernedly.

"Let's just say that if you guys keep up this nonsense…" Pyra began, pausing in hesitation for several seconds before continuing, "…Ah never mind."

"Pyra?"

"You must have things to do on the bridge don't you?" the engineer answered quickly, "In the meantime I'll need to concentrate on this hyperdrive. So if you'll excuse me…"

Whereupon Pyra slipped into a maintenance corridor and vanished from sight, leaving a puzzled Cara behind.

* * *

Farin was taking a rest in his seat when he heard the bridge doors slide open. Swiveling his seat around, he was surprised to see a worried Cara walk in.

"Managed to persuade Pyra?"

"He's making the necessary calibrations as we speak," came the ambivalent reply as she returned to her console.

"Did something happen?" Farin asked curiously, "You don't seem… yourself right now."

"It's nothing," Cara sighed, leaning back in her seat.

"It's Pyra, isn't it?"

"How'd you…" Cara quickly turned to face Farin, "Wait, what do you know about Pyra?"

"He served aboard the Naabal carrier _Veer Rak_ during the Homeworld War," Farin began, "Quite the strange set of circumstances. But they were facing a shortage of engineers back then, so Pyra got sent in."

"But what has that got to do with…" Cara began but stopped when she suddenly recalled the one terrible event that the carrier had been involved in.

"I see you remember the shield manoeuvre," Farin commented when he saw the change on Cara's face.

"That manoeuvre…" Cara could scarcely imagine, "Engineering must've been hell then."

"More than hell: a frigging nightmare, that's what it was!" Farin emphasized, "All that firepower was meant for the Mothership, and _Veer Rak_ took it all."

"I heard there were… casualties."

"Casualties?" Farin shook his head gravely, "_Veer Rak_ lost nearly a third of its crew. Engineering was worst off, with half the section dead. Killed by hull breaches, plasma leaks, and electrical overloads."

"What of Pyra then?"

"By some miracle of chance, he escaped with scarcely a scratch," came the reply, "When I met him after landfall he was a complete wreck though. Took him years to recover."

"I can only imagine," Cara nodded understandingly, "To have friends and fellow crewmates die right before you while you live…"

"…_Engineering to Bridge,"_ the intercom channel crackled on, interrupting Cara, _"Hyperdrive recalibration complete."_

"Erm, thanks for the work Pyra," Cara responded, unsure of what to say next.

"_No worries,"_ came the quick reply as Pyra cut the channel abruptly.

Cara looked up at Farin, who responded with a helpless shrug of his shoulders. Then the captain activated the ship-wide intercom channel.

"Captain Farin to all hands – stand by for slipgate transition!"

* * *

"…_stand by for slipgate transition,"_ Farin's voice echoed through the _Clee San_'s engineering section. Immediately, Pyra walked calmly to a corner and sat down, curling himself up into a tight ball.

"…No more…" the engineer muttered painfully as he closed his eyes and braced himself.

* * *

"Lock on to that rupture and begin quantum energy focus," Cara ordered, "I've updated the NAV systems with the rupture's coordinates."

"Where will that lead us to then?" Farin asked as he tapped a button and initiated the induction, causing a soft hum to reverberate throughout the frigate as the hyperdrive kicked in.

"Sensor data indicates we will probably exit hyperspace in close proximity with the Sarum dust clouds," came the reply, "Give or take a dozen light years, that is."

"That prediction isn't very accurate you know…"

"The rupture's had at least ten thousand years to dissipate – there's no telling where exactly we'd turn up," Cara answered, her voice sounding slightly worried, "Picking up increased hyperspatial instability, slipgate formation expected within…"

Then there was a sudden explosion of cerulean light as an area of space some distance from the derelict gate rippled and tore itself into a small slipgate, swirling and spinning with all the brilliance of hyperspace itself.

"Slipgate formation confirmed," Cara reported nervously, "Preliminary scans indicate it is stable enough for matter transition. Stand by to disengage hyperdrive and begin slipgate transition."

Farin nodded quietly and gripped the controls tightly. With a roar of plasma, the _Clee San_'s fusion drives powered up and pushed the ship forward, bringing it closer towards the swirling malevolent mass of infinity. As the small frigate approached, it began to shudder from the tendrils of gravity emanating from the hole in space.

"Gravitational distortions detected, it's going to be a bumpy ride," Farin commented as he heard the frigate's structure groan under the strain, "Hyperdrive deactivation and slipgate entry in thirty seconds."

But for everyone else on the bridge, their attention was not on the slipgate before them but rather the mighty megalith they were leaving behind. On the individual viewscreens that Cara, Ishbar and Rea were seated before were the images of the great derelict gate hanging in space, gradually shrinking as _Clee San_ accelerated towards their way home. It was the discoveries like these that made the galactic wars seem like petty squabbles, reminding them that in the distant past there were civilizations that made the current powers puny in comparison.

"I still wonder as to how this gate could be related to our own Hyperspace Core," Rea spoke up from his seat.

"We may never know," Cara replied as she took one final glance of the gate before it vanished and was replaced by the swirling tides and currents of hyperspace…

* * *

The fabric of time and space shivered slightly, then detonated in a mind-mangling explosion of light as a slipgate erupted from nothingness. The natural hyperspace gate flared briefly as it ejected a small insignificant ship from its bowels, then rapidly shrank and dimmed as it quietly collapsed into oblivion.

Wherever they now were, the place was dusty, though not quite as dusty as the Inner Rim Dust Bank they had just departed from. But the occupants of the little frigate were relieved.

It was the Sarum Dust Clouds.

They were home.


	11. Shore Leave

**TRUTH SEEKER**

**CHAPTER 10: SHORE LEAVE**

"_Mothership Station Control to Somtaaw science vessel _Clee San_, you are clear for launch in thirty seconds," _the operator's voice droned over the channel, _"Control out."_

"A perfect way to ruin the perfect day," Ishbar grumbled loudly to himself so that Aaraan could hear him.

"I already said I was sorry!" Aaraan shot back from the sensors console, "Look, I really didn't mean to drag you into this..."

"Yeah right," came the indignant reply, "Commit sensor suicide back in the Dust Bank and then get punished with a full sensor suite diagnostic during shore leave. Conveniently, the only other person who can pilot this thing is..."

A soft beep indicated that the countdown timer had reached zero, coinciding with the dull groans of the docking clamps releasing their hold on the ship. And then to reinforce his point, Ishbar engaged the main drives with a jolt, throwing Aaraan forward against his seat harness. The latter considered mouthing an obscenity at his colleague, then thought otherwise after remembering the situation he was already in.

* * *

Like an aggravated wasp the _Clee San_ flared out of the vast docking bay, moving towards a high orbital position.

"Why is it the first thing we do for shore leave has to be this... this _cohesion_ event?" Darum demanded as the group of four alighted from the maglev.

"It's as I've said earlier: I saw the need for improved bonding among the ship's crew," Farin replied nonchalantly, not even bothering to turn around.

"Improved _bonding_?" came the incredulous reply, "For Sajuuk's sake we've spent a good few weeks out there doing nothing but... be together! How else do you want us to 'bond'?"

"That's different. I noticed that you guys talked to each other only when there was work involved," the captain explained as he made his way through the weekend crowd, leading the rest of them towards their sandy destination, "I don't think that helps inter-crew relations much."

"But..."

"Geez, are you slow or what?" Rea grinned slyly at Darum, "The captain plans a cohesion event at the _beach_ no less. If you ask me, it's just a nice excuse for him to get 'Bound' with..."

Rea stopped and wheezed, the sudden pain in his ribs preventing him from speaking.

"Make any more 'Bound' jokes at my expense and I assure you you'll be 'Bound' to a hospital bed for the next three months," Cara mentioned menacingly as she withdrew her pen and dropped it back into her handbag.

"Then what about Pyra, huh?" Darum complained again, "What makes him so..."

"You know what Darum?" Cara rolled her eyes in disbelief, "Rea's right: you are slow."

* * *

Pyra stepped out of the maglev and was greeted by the sight of a deserted station. Save for the odd station maintenance crew or police enforcer, there was not a soul around. Letting out a soft sigh, he reached into his bag to check his goods. Thankfully, the flowers still looked fresh and crisp despite the journey.

Putting on a dark khaki hat that matched the sombre colours of his clothes, he moved respectfully towards the massive cemetery that lay ahead, the multitude of gravestones etched beautifully into the rolling hills of the green Hiigaran terrain.

* * *

"We've reached designated coordinates: gravitational effects from both the Homeworld and the Angel Moon are at a minimum," Ishbar announced in a voice that could've frozen hell over.

"I guess that's my cue," Aaraan uttered lightly, trying his best to warm things a little, "Thanks for the smooth ride."

"My pleasure," came the cold reply as Ishbar got up and left the bridge abruptly, taking Aaraan completely by surprise. After staring at the closed bridge doors for a full minute and realising Ishbar wasn't coming back, he shrugged and returned his attention to the console.

"Time to see what this thing can really do..." the Somtaaw muttered as he powered up the ship's sensor suite.

* * *

As reluctant as Darum was about spending precious shore leave time in a crew cohesion, he felt his negativity subside when the cool sea breeze embraced him in its welcoming arms, bringing with it the refreshing salty smell of the Great East.

Seaside getaways were a completely unheard of concept to Darum until recently. The super-arid climate of Kharak meant that naturally-occurring bodies of water could only be found in the polar regions where the main cities were. Even so, access to the seas were strictly prohibited owing to fears that precious water supplies could be inadvertently contaminated. The only 'seas' Darum could remember were the so-called 'seas of sand' that encompassed the entire planet.

And now, here he was facing the seemingly infinite stretch of water that was one of Hiigara's major oceans.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" Farin commented upon seeing the stunned look of his once-protesting subordinate.

"I... I don't know what to say," Darum managed to gawk out, making it quite clear it was his first time to the coast.

"It's a nice place alright," Cara added casually as she swung out a synthetic mat onto the white sands, "But coming here every week or so does wear off the novelty a bit."

"Every week?" Farin exclaimed in shocked surprise at the revelation, "How in Kharak's name did you get all that time?"

"You're a soldier. It's different."

"But then what of Darum and Rea?"

"Then I guess it just goes to show that some people actually have a life outside of work," Cara commented with a smug smile on her face as she opened a sunshade for shelter. After some meticulous positioning of the sunshade, she gave a pleased sigh and settled down with a book.

"That was anticlimactic," Rea mentioned with a shrug as he spread out his own mat to lay down on, "I was hoping for some 'eye candy'."

"Sorry to disappoint you: two-way street. It's not like you have anything good to offer in exchange," came the cruel reply aimed directly at Rea, who was clearly the most leanly-built of the three.

"Heh," Rea managed to force out as he turned to Farin, "Well then captain, why don't you take on the challenge?"

"Wouldn't want to deflate your self-esteem any further," Farin smiled as he jumped on the bandwagon, eliciting chuckles from Cara and a sullen silence from Rea.

* * *

He had been walking a good twenty minutes now, first from the station to the entrance and now through the neatly-arranged graves themselves. Unlike the ones back on Kharak, many of the tombstones were still fairly new: a grim reminder that the horrors of war were still not that far off. Various offerings lined the graves, ranging from wilted flowers to exquisitely-adorned wreaths. Every now and then he'd spy a person or two weeping silently for a loved one.

And then he saw it: a single grave among the hundreds that he never failed to recognize even from far away. Trudging solemnly up to it, he took off his hat and bowed his head slightly, studying the condition of the place. The edges of the stone were hardly worn and the epitaph remained clear as ever.

_Here lies Elie, to whom the crew of _Veer Rak _owe their lives._

"Hello again."

* * *

"...Long range sensor sweep complete, ranged algorithms are recalibrated and operational," Aaraan muttered to himself as he completed another component of the diagnostics. Yawning loudly, he leaned back in his seat and gave himself a good and long stretch. He was barely halfway through the whole list.

"By the Maker, this is boring as hell," another utter escaped his lips as he proceeded to activate the next module and run the tests. It was then that he paused, an idea emerging in his bored mind.

"I wonder if something as powerful as this could possibly..." Aaraan trailed off as he tapped a series of commands into the console. Almost immediately, the viewscreen flickered on and showed plainly the Manaan destroyer _Bushan Re _holding position in high Hiigaran orbit. Another tap brought the warship into high magnification.

"And now for this..."

The viewscreen flickered momentarily as the destroyer seemed to change colour slightly, fading away until the hull became seemingly translucent in nature.

"By Sajuuk..." Aaraan began grinning as he upped the magnification and sensor power further.

"You still haven't told me what happened," Cara enquired casually, her eyes still on her book.

"What about?" Farin asked. He had already removed his shirt owing to the exceptionally warm effects of the Hiigaran star and was doing push-ups on the sand, much to the delight of several ladies walking by.

"Khontala, who else?"

"Cara, now isn't the time to talk about work," Farin groaned as he stopped his exercises and sat upright.

"Perhaps – but I need to know whether our actions will result in any... consequences of some sort."

"Oh well, we're fine: nothing bad's gonna happen," came the reply as the former second officer stared at the crystal clear waters in the distance where Rea and Darum seemed to be swimming, "He was a bit unhappy about us failing to get those deep scans, but he was willing to compromise for the intel on the Imperialist plans and also that derelict gate."

"Now that you mention it, I wonder what will come of that plan," Cara commented as she closed her book and stared blankly at the cerulean Hiigaran sky. If she paid enough attention she could vaguely make out the faint silhouette of the Mothership Station in low orbit.

"Can we stop worrying about the galaxy for just this one hour and relax, please?" came the pained plea.

"Alright alright, if that's what you want," Cara grudgingly agreed as she turned to face the bare-bodied captain and saw his defined chest, the well-muscled arms, all covered in sweat and glistening in the brilliant light of the Hiigaran star.

Cara gulped when she realised her heart rate had just kicked up a notch.

"You look... surprisingly good for a man your age."

Farin shrugged so as to emphasise his rather prominent shoulders.

"I'm a soldier. It's different."

* * *

"_Gah!" the female engineer threw down her multi-tool in despair, regarding the problematic panel with a lethal stare._

"_Don't stress yourself out now Elie," Pyra chimed in lightly as he picked up the device and gestured for her to climb down._

"_I swear, I've done everything there was in the book and still the darned thing won't work!" Elie fumed as she made her way down the step ladder and sat down in defeat beside it._

"_Relax angel, let me give you a hand," came the placating reply as Pyra climbed up and studied the exposed conduit for several seconds._

"_Well? What do you think?"_

"_You can't always go by the book," came the cool reply as he reached into the conduit with the multi-tool and activated the micro-repulsor, pushing against a seemingly pristine stretch of carbon composite, "Sometimes you have to go with your gut feeling, your instincts."_

_With a loud resounding pop, the offending component came lose in Pyra's hand. Turning it over to Elie, the blackened and burned out portion in its interior was clearly evident, eliciting a surprised gasp from her._

"_How did you know?" Elie spluttered, "There was no way you could've seen from the outside."_

"_Gut feeling," Pyra grinned as he handed the multi-tool back to her, "Now let's go get some lunch, shall we?"_

* * *

"Sorry I couldn't visit you these past few weeks," Pyra mentioned as he sat down by the pristine tombstone, "Was out there doing research and all that 'Where no Hiigaran has gone before' stuff. You don't mind, do you?"

At this juncture, the engineer took out the pure white flowers he had brought with him and placed them carefully before the epitaph, making sure that not one petal was out of place.

"Thought you could do with a change in décor," Pyra smiled as he admired his handiwork. Staring at the flowers, his smile slowly faded away.

_If only..._

* * *

"_Aaraan, are you up to anything up there?"_ Ishbar asked suspiciously over the intercom, _"I'm picking up power fluctuations in the sensor grid. I don't remember any super-high power scans being in the tests..."_

"Naw, there's nothing to worry about," Aaraan could scarcely contain his excitement, "There was an error in the long range sweeps so I'm trying to narrow down the cause."

"_...Whatever you say. Get those tests done quickly please? I don't want to spend all of my shore leave up here with you thank you very much."_ Ishbar replied impatiently before closing the channel.

"This sensor array is sweet stuff," the thrilled Somtaaw uttered as he booted up the newly-installed computer cores and tapped a few buttons, "Focus and magnify. Refine image with quantum level scanning."

"_Acknowledged: Quantum level scanning initiated."_

With that, the sensors brought into clearer view the dramatic event of a fight taking place in the destroyer's mess hall. The image was so clear he could plainly make out the various plates and mugs that were flying across the hall, as well as the punches and kicks that the combatants were throwing at each other.

"Come on reddie," Aaraan clenched his fists tightly as he watched an exceptionally burly one continue to beat the hell out of another crew member who was in a vaguely red attire.

It was then that the viewscreen screamed a blinding aqua in his eyes.

"Damn it! What's wrong?" the Somtaaw yelled angrily as he tapped furiously at the console, trying to bring the fight back into focus.

"_Unable to comply – Sensor focus interrupted by background interference."_

"How convenient. Activate sensor filter. Stupid computer core..."

"_Unable to re-initiate quantum level scanning. Magnitude three quantum interference detected."_

"Magnitude three?" Aaraan's eyes opened in disbelief.

* * *

A peal of thunder roared in the distance, heralding the imminent arrival of a nasty thunderstorm. Pyra looked in the general direction of the roar and saw immediately the menacing black clouds that had appeared on the horizon so suddenly. All around him, mourners began to take their leave, seeking shelter for the bad weather. But the engineer remained where he was.

"You didn't like thunder right?" Pyra commented as he shifted closer to the cold hard stone, "Don't worry – I'll be right here with you."

"Dang, there goes the weather," Farin sighed as he felt the first cold drop of rain on his face. For he had fallen asleep in the lazy afternoon and failed to see the sudden appearance of thunderclouds in the distance. It was then that he noticed the absence of Cara, Darum and Rea.

"Over here sir!" Darum's yell drifted in from a nearby cafe where the trio had long since taken shelter with an assortment of drinks and food.

And then the heavens opened up.

"Qwaardammit," the curse escaped Farin's lips as he hastily grabbed his sandy shirt and made a dash for the cafe, the freezing rain drops splattering uncomfortably on bare skin.

"Excellent cure for comas isn't it?" Cara added with a mischievous smirk.

"Just shut up already," the captain grumbled as he made a feeble attempt to swing the sand grains off the drenched shirt.

"If there's one thing I could never get used to, it's how the weather here changes so quickly."

As if to reinforce his point, a blinding flash of lightning lit up the sky, accompanied by a deafening thunderclap.

* * *

_A monstrous thunderclap reverberated through the hull as the ship received the equivalent of a flogging. All around him, there was only chaos as engineers struggled to keep the power systems and reactor core stable._

"_We'll stay where we are!" the disembodied voice of the Naabal commander echoed in his ears as he instinctively shielded himself from an exploding conduit, "Better us than the Mothership! All damage control teams to affected areas!"_

_Another mighty shudder gripped the stricken carrier and the lights flickered out, plunging the the entire Engineering section into darkness._

"_What in Kharak's name just happened?" a colleague yelled from the inky black._

"_Captain Phuur just took us in to shield the Mothership!"_

"_The hell is he thinking? We're not equipped to deal with that much damage!"_

_Then there were screams as sparks and flashes lit up the pitch black section. Before Pyra could react, yet another conduit exploded and flung him against a wall with its shockwave. As he slumped to the floor in agony, the emergency lights struggled and flickered dimly so as to present a grim view of their current situation._

_When Pyra saw the angry plumes of red dancing around the reactor core chamber, he knew it was all over._

"_Reactor meltdown! Everyone get out!" he managed to muster enough strength to yell as he dragged himself over to one of the few functioning consoles remaining. With a mighty effort, he slammed his palm down and activated the lockdown sequence._

"_Pyra!" Elie's voice drifted in over the chaos, "What are you doing?"_

"_Get out of here," he managed to utter, still in considerable pain over the few broken ribs he had sustained, "The bulkheads may be able to contain the blast..."_

_Before he could react, the petite Somtaaw grabbed his legs and began dragging him towards the slowly closing doorway. The sudden movement caused the pain to flare up again and the engineer groaned weakly._

"_Hang in there big guy," Elie puffed as she inched slowly towards the outstretched hands. Then she knelt down in exhaustion as she released her hold, leaving Pyra to the rest of their surviving colleagues on the other side of the doorway._

"_I'm going to try a manual override of the emergency vent," Elie mentioned as she caught her breath._

"_Are you crazy? An emergency vent at this point isn't going to help things!" Pyra protested weakly, "Just get over here this instant!"_

"_That's what the book says, but it's worth a shot I think," the intrepid female engineer looked sadly at him through the narrowing gap of the doorway, "Gut feeling."_

"_What? No, I was joking on the gut feeling part!"_

"_Would it matter if you were?" Elie managed to force a smile as she pulled herself free of the other incredulous engineers, "Take care of yourself, Pyra. I... really enjoyed all that time with you."_

"_Elie! No!"_

_With a dull clang, the doorway sealed itself shut as the lockdown completed. For a few moments, there was an uncanny silence that was broken only occasionally by the angry hiss of the failing reactor. Then the shrill shriek of a woman burning alive pierced through the smoky air._

* * *

The rain was coming down in sheets now, as were the lightning flashes and roars of thunder. Pyra was now thoroughly soaked, but he continued to cling tightly to the now-dripping stone.

"Why... why did it have to be you..." the Somtaaw wept openly now, the rain serving to amplify his grief.

For the emergency vent had actually worked, releasing enough plasma pressure to prevent a catastrophic reactor failure that would have doubtlessly destroyed the entire carrier. Thanks to Elie's sacrifice, the lives of hundreds were saved.

_But why?_

* * *

"Do you think Pyra'll be okay?" Farin asked as he regarded the torrential rains worriedly.

"I don't know," Cara replied with a tinge of pity in her voice, "We can only hope."

"Doesn't anyone wonder how Ishbar and Aaraan are doing up there?" Darum asked irritatedly, annoyed that Pyra had continued to dominate and dampen most of their conversational topics for the past half hour.

"It's not like an Imperialist fleet's just going to jump in on them," came Cara's dismissive reply.

* * *

"_I cannot believe you would actually be arrogant enough to even suggest that your science ship's sensors are superior to that of the entire Hiigaran defence grid. I thought you Somtaaw would be better than that."_

"But Sir Talas, it's true!" Aaraan insisted desperately, "I've already sent you the readings. If you would just analyse them you would see that they match..."

"_Enough banter. You do realise that you have violated a few military protocols by simply being on this channel? You will hear from Hiigaran Fleet Command soon enough. _Veer Rak _out."_

The channel terminated, leaving Aaraan to stare helplessly at the viewscreen and the countdown timer on the bottom left.

_T-minus eight minutes to hyperspace exit._


	12. Second Strike

**TRUTH SEEKER**

**CHAPTER 11: SECOND STRIKE

* * *

  
**

"... As the situation stands now it is effectively a stalemate," Admiral Rey concluded, "However in the medium term our supply and logistical advantage will shift the odds in our favour."

"I see," Karan answered as she finished reading the last of the battle reports before her, "I still have some concerns, however, about leaving the populace at yellow alert..."

"Your Grace," one of her aides suddenly spoke up, "The Naabal command carrier is hailing us. Shall I patch the Naabal Kiith'sa through?"

"Those pompous Naabal," the Sobanii admiral uttered in disgust, "To think that they'd keep you waiting like this..."

"It is alright – better late than never," Karan replied as she gestured to her aide to accept the transmission. Moments later, the proud face of Talas Naabal appeared on the _Wisdom_'s main viewscreen.

"_I am sorry for the delay,"_ Talas began in a voice that hardly sounded apologetic, _"I was held up by certain trifling matters..."_

"Perhaps you would have the courtesy to explain these 'trifling matters' at the very least," Admiral Rey cut in angrily, "Your late arrival to this debrief is an insult to Lady Karan herself!"

"Rey, please," Karan quickly interjected in a bid to keep the discussion civil.

"_My my, what a hothead we have here," _Talas chuckled smugly, "_To think that the Great Fleet of the Soban is led by such an irrational one._"

"You..."

"Enough, you two!" Karan commanded firmly, her authoritative voice immediately silencing the duo, "Talas Naabal, I do not think that Admiral Rey's request is an unreasonable one."

"_You have Khontala to blame then,"_ Talas shrugged nonchalantly, _"Sajuuk knows why he would staff his precious science vessel with what is clearly a team of morons."_

"Science vessel? The _Clee San_?" Karan was surprised by the answer, "What of it?"

"_I would like to lodge a formal complaint against the_ Clee San_'s crew for violating military communications protocol,_" Talas continued, "_One of their so-called 'scientists' entered the channel without proper authorisation on the pretext of giving me 'critical sensor information._'"

"I suppose that was the cause of your delay then?"

"_As you can see clearly it was no fault on my part,_" Talas now gave a remorseless smile, _"If anything you would do well to court martial those bumbling fools..."_

"One last query before we return to the main topic at hand," Karan cut Talas off for she had little interest in his petty complaints, "You are entirely confident that this 'information' is not critical to our situation?"

"_Absolutely,"_ came the cool reply.

"You would take full responsibility if that were not the case?"

"_My policy of ignoring the words of fools has served me well all these years,"_ Talas answered in a bored tone, _"I do not foresee any necessary changes in the near future."_

"Very well. Returning to the matter at hand: what have you to say?"

Before Talas could answer, the slow warble of the primary sensors console filled the air. Turning to face the relevant viewscreen, Karan saw a tactical display of Hiigara itself and the surrounding sector. Just beyond the maximum range of the planetary defence systems were a series of red dots and pulsating blue circles.

"Multiple hyperspace signatures detected," the _Wisdom_'s sensor officer spoke up, "They're not ours."

* * *

The rain began to subside, the sky slowly clearing to reveal the Hiigaran star once more. Pyra was now thoroughly drenched but he didn't seem to care at all.

"The storm's over – you don't need to be afraid anymore," the dripping Somtaaw smiled sadly at the tombstone. Spying several damp spots on the otherwise dry tombstone, he removed a dry cloth from a waterproof pouch on his waist and got to work, wiping the water off the stone carefully. Then he suddenly stopped.

"You know Elie, I'd come and see you more often if not for the _Clee San_," Pyra mentioned with a sigh, "You know, the whole 'Where no Hiigaran has gone before' business. Things have been going up a notch lately though, and I've a good mind to..."

Pyra paused, his ears suddenly detecting the dreaded wail of the planetary bombardment sirens.

* * *

"_... This is an emergency announcement from the New Daiamid," _the cafe viewscreen was now bathed in the vermilion colours of the planetary emergency broadcast, _"Planetary alert condition has been upgraded to Red. Evacuation protocols are now in effect - this is not a drill..."_

As the rest of the cafe began erupting in a panicked commotion, the little Somtaaw corner remained motionless as they stared silently at the broadcast.

"By Sajuuk..." Cara managed to splutter.

"Look what your big mouth has caused," Darum gave a sigh of resignation.

"May I know why the hell we're still sitting here?" Rea exclaimed as he stood up suddenly, "We need to get to the Spaceport and..."

"Calm down Rea," Farin interrupted calmly, "No point going there: it's all probably locked down by now. All we can do is head for the nearest shelters like everyone else."

"But..."

"_Clee San_ is a science vessel," Farin reminded firmly, "There's no way they'd let a science crew through at this point in time."

"Farin's right," Cara agreed as she stood up and gestured towards the cafe exit, "Shall we?"

* * *

"Give me an update on those numbers now," Admiral Rey ordered as he watched the event unfold on the sensors screen.

"Three carrier groups with full capital ship escorts," the sensors officer answered, his voice quivering slightly with fear, "And their numbers are still increasing."

"Qwaardammit," the curse escaped the Sobanii officer's lips, "It's a bloody armada."

Karan now turned to face Talas, who was now visibly nervous and shocked at the sudden turn of events.

"_I... I had no idea..." _Talas managed to stutter, his arrogant eloquence now a thing of the past, _"I..."_

"You will personally answer to the Daiamid," Karan cut him off coldly before closing the channel, "Rey: your opinions?"

"The damned Imperialists must've found some way to shield their hyperspace jumps from our sensor sweeps," Rey answered worriedly, "Combined with the deployment of the majority of our forces to the Sarum defence zone, this is looking very bad for us tactically."

"I will have our best researchers look into improving our sensor grid accordingly," Karan noted, "In the meantime I will leave you to coordinate the defence forces."

"I will do what I can," Rey bowed respectfully before assuming his position at the _Wisdom_'s command console. As the Sobanii admiral barked out move orders, Karan proceeded to the corner console where her aide was seated at.

"The channel is open, audio only," the aide stated as he vacated the seat for the Hiigaran matriarch.

"Thank you," Karan replied as she took her place, "Attention Somtaaw science vessel _Clee San_ – This is the Sjet heavy cruiser _Wisdom_. Come in please."

"_This... this voice..."_ Aaraan was spluttering in stunned shock, _"...Lady Sjet?"_

"That is correct."

"_Oh... oh my god," _came the nearly incoherent reply, _"A... Aaraan Somtaaw re... reporting, Your Grace!"_

"Away with the formalities," Karan rolled her eyes slightly, tired of the 'goddess-awe' she was always receiving, "I heard that the _Clee San_'s sensors were able to detect the inbound Taiidan?"

"_... I didn't realise they were T... Taiidan," _the hapless Somtaaw was clearly nervous as hell, _"I just p... picked up in... inbound hyper sigs..."_

"That is good enough for us," Karan was relieved to hear the news, "I need you to establish a sensor grid uplink to the _Wisdom_. We are currently operating as the primary command and control for the defence forces and require as much accurate sensor data as possible. Can you do that?"

"_...I th... think so. W... will do wh... what I can..."_

"Thank you for your help – your efforts will not go unnoticed," Karan finished as she ended the transmission.

* * *

"... What the hell are you doing staring there?" Ishbar demanded as he rushed in through the bridge doors, "We have hostiles incoming!"

"... S... Sensor... up... uplink," Aaraan managed to say, still in a state of shock from his first real encounter with _the_ legendary Karan Sjet.

"Sensor uplink?" Ishbar snapped as he wondered what had happened to his colleague. Upon seeing that Aaraan was still stuttering like a nervous schoolboy he shoved him unceremoniously from his seat.

"Alright then! Sensor uplink! But where to?" Ishbar demanded as he keyed in the necessary commands.

"... _Wis... dom..._"

"That's the Sjet heavy cruiser!" Ishbar exclaimed, "You sure?"

When Ishbar got no response he swore and typed in the final commands. As the computer initiated the uplink with a resounding beep, he reached for his canteen and threw the whole lot in Aaraan's face. While the hapless scientist spluttered and coughed from the surprise, Ishbar strapped himself securely before the helm.

"Get a grip! Here we go!"

The _Clee San_'s main drives roared to life, propelling the frigate away from the menacing approach of the Imperialist attack force. No sooner had Ishbar done so did the first salvo come streaking in – mass drivers and ion beams sizzling dangerously past the science ship.

"Too close for comfort," Ishbar uttered as he switched to the friendly frequencies,_ "_Somtaaw science ship_ Clee San_ to Hiigaran Defence Fleet, could use a little help here!_"_

"_Already on it,"_ came the swift reply as Blade squadrons swept in to engage the Triikors on the frigate's tail.

More ion beams surged past on the main viewscreen to Ishbar's relief – for they were the familiar crimson swords of the Hiigaran Firelance formations.

* * *

"Oh Sajuuk, the _stench_!" Cara choked as she found herself being shoved into the crowded shelter by the sweaty and panicky crowd.

"Shut up already. Move on," the gruff voice of a marine sounded beside her.

"Keep moving, keep moving," Farin uttered while he guided Cara along the dim corridor, giving the rude marine a lasting glare as he did so, "The kind of people they let into the Marine Corps these days..."

"Technically, aren't you one of them?" Darum asked, his curiosity piqued by Farin's seeming hostility towards a fellow soldier.

"Don't you even start putting us in the same category," Farin shot back, "They're very different from us Hiigaran Navy personnel."

"You're not making sense – those are both military arms..."

"Darum, did you spend your entire education locked up in cryostasis or something?" Cara could scarcely believe what she was hearing, "It's rather well known, or should I say, an established fact that the Marine Corps is the worst place you can end up in."

"I heard the majority of their intakes come from the so-called 'outcast' families," Rea joined in, "They say it's what causes them to be such a messed up bunch."

"Dishonourable things I say," Farin spat, "Particularly those that keep switching allegiances during times of turmoil. Rats who flee from sinking ships – that's who they really are."

"I know most Navy personnel aren't on good terms with the Marines, but you seem to have a particularly bad grudge with them," Cara observed.

"Don't probe – just keep moving," growled Farin.

* * *

"First and Second attack squadrons have engaged the enemy," an officer reported amid the bustling bridge of the _Wisdom_, "Fourth Firelance formation is providing long range support."

"_Bushan Re_ coming under heavy fire, her captain's pulling her back,_"_ updated another, "Matriarch squadrons standing by."

"Dispatch Blade squadrons Gamma seven through nine to cover the _Bushan Re_," Admiral Rey ordered after a quick consultation with the tactical overlay, "Vengeance squad Kappa will fill in for her temporarily."

"Is everything alright?" Karan asked as she strode up beside the war veteran, who was still the pinnacle of calm in spite of the storm brewing around them.

"We're holding them off, but just barely," the Sobanii admiral replied, maintaining his watchful gaze on the tactical overlay, "Order _Caal Shto_ to pull back – she's too close to the front-line."

"You're doing well nonetheless," Karan observed.

"You flatter me," Rey smiled slightly, "What I'm doing here must pale in comparison with your coordination as Fleet Command..."

"New updates from _Clee San_ coming in," the sensors officer spoke up, now visibly calmer after having seen the Admiral's near-flawless orchestrating of the battle, "New bogies incoming. Exit trajectories on the far side of the Angel Moon. ETA three minutes."

"A flanking manoeuvre," Rey muttered, "Expected numbers?"

"Seven ships: six ion arrays and one super-capital of unknown designation," came the reply, "Looks like the Raiders have joined the fray."

"Don't like the sound of that. Send cruisers _Avatar II_ and _Jiin_ to intercept."

* * *

When he saw the massive Mothership Station loom before them, Ishbar couldn't help but heave a long sigh of relief. Now that they were far behind the front-line, all that was left was to set up a local warning grid in case anything slipped past the main defence lines.

As the _Clee San_'s main drives powered down and left the ship in stationary low orbit near the Mothership Station, Ishbar let out a long yawn and tapped a few more buttons. When the computers beeped in acknowledgement, he smiled and spun his seat around to face the drenched Aaraan – still seated dumbly on the floor.

"I hope you're fully awake now," Ishbar commented as he got up and sat down beside his fellow colleague, "What got into you just now?"

"... I spoke with Karan Sjet," came the near-monotone reply.

Ishbar's eyes widened when he heard the answer. Speaking with the one person who saved them all from Genocide was something rather rare in these parts – particularly if you were from a less prominent Kiith such as the Somtaaw.

"... Wow," Ishbar conceded, "That is just... wow. But still, don't you think you're overreacting slightly?"

"Have you ever wondered what it must've been like to be Fleet Command?" Aaraan ignored Ishbar's question completely.

"No. Why the sudden question?"

"I've always had this interest in neural interfaces," Aaraan continued, his eyes giving the impression that his mind was in some far-off imaginary world, "And I've always wondered what it might've been like."

"Well, I suppose it must be awfully claustrophobic," Ishbar shrugged as he considered the thought, "And the idea of all those dozens of wires jacked straight into your head... not exactly very appealing to me."

"Maybe," came the dreamy reply, "But I've heard things from some friends over at the Sjet labs. They say it's the entire opposite of claustrophobia, that it's both everything and nothing, and that..."

"This is starting to sound fairly deranged," Ishbar began cautiously, "You sure you didn't bang your head?"

"Nope, I'm fine," Aaraan shook his head and got to his feet, "It was just a thought, nothing more."

Aaraan was about to leave for his bunk when he spied the new bogies from the corner of his eye. Facing the sensor display, he saw that they had just emerged from hyperspace near the Angel Moon.

"I've never seen this ship design before," Aaraan muttered as a detailed scan revealed strange ship schematics that were clearly Taiidan-inspired but somehow different.

"That's why it's 'unknown designation,' duh."

Then the sensor panel let out its warning scream, the red rhombus of the unknown ship flashing an angry red.

* * *

The graveyard felt more silent than ever now that most of Hiigara's surface inhabitants had gone into hiding. All that remained was the distant ghostly echo of the planetary bombardment sirens, their eerie wails continuing long and hard.

Pyra remained seated beside Elie's grave, gazing upwards at the sky above. Night was fast approaching, and as the Hiigaran star dipped further into the horizon it allowed the Somtaaw to make out the extremely faint glitter of ships exploding.

A twinkle.

His eyes moved now to the sphere of the Angel Moon, its surface glowing with reflected light from the Hiigaran star. But there was otherwise nothing in the darkening skies around it.

He saw the twinkle again. It was brighter now and positioned just left of the Angel Moon.

_A star gone supernova?_ Pyra thought.

When Pyra saw the twinkle a third time his engineering knowledge kicked in. He had seen this many times before he was posted to the _Clee San_, even before his _Veer Rak_ deployment. It was on the prototype ion cannon frigate _Firelance_ – the trademark energy pulse of an ion cannon powering up.

_Oh fuck_.

* * *

"I've lost contact with the _Jiin_!" an officer yelled urgently from across the bridge, "They are not responding to hails!"

"_Jiin_'s IFF signal has vanished from sensor view," Rey muttered when he saw the tactical display update its contents, "Someone contact the _Avatar II_ now, I want to know what's going on there."

"Sir, emergency transmission from Hiigaran Ground Control," another officer reported, "Asaam Kiith'sid has taken orbital fire!"

"What in Kharak's name?" Rey turned to stare at the reporting officer while Karan turned pale and felt her legs go weak at the news. Her aide seemed to pre-empt this and stepped forward to support the Sjet Kiith'sa as she faltered slightly.

"Preliminary reports put the damage zone as approximately two-hundred and thirty metres wide, so it is not an ADW..."

"Receiving new sensor data from the _Clee San_ – it's coupled with a priority one image attachment,_"_ the sensors officer cut in again, "Patching it to the main viewscreen..."

The bridge fell silent as the crystal-clear image appeared before everyone's eyes: an impossibly long ion beam stretching from the Taiidan ship to Hiigara.


End file.
